


This is Us

by jeralee



Category: One Piece
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Reader-Insert, Romance, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-24
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-08-28 15:19:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 64,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16725903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jeralee/pseuds/jeralee
Summary: SOULMATE AU.Names have begun appearing on individuals when they are born....the names of their soulmates, their one true love. And this is how you met Portgas D. Ace, who has your name imprinted on his arm.Portgas D. Ace x Reader





	1. Boy Meets Girl

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone, just a few things to let you know:
> 
> \- I love the idea of soulmates, so I wanted to try it out and incorporate into One Piece where people are born with marks which are the names of their soulmates and cannot be removed. When 2 soulmates meet each other, their marks burns to identify them.
> 
> \- My desire to write this grew stronger from my own severe depression where I cant find and don’t have the motivation to do anything and I mean anything... including going out to buy food, so I figured I should do something productive.
> 
> \- I just wanted to write something about pure, true love... even if its tacky, or Mary Sue, or love at first sight or whatever.
> 
> \- But that being said, I lost track of One Piece a long time ago... I couldn't keep up with it and also One Piece never aired where I live so I can't remember/don't know much about the series anymore so very sorry if anything is not accurate (please accept my apologies in advance). You may correct me if anything is incorrect
> 
> \- I kept Reader's description to match the way how Eiichiro Oda-san draws most of the girls - tall, big chest, narrow waist etc. This doesn't really impact the story.
> 
> \- This is unfortunately not a story about Reader saving Ace or preventing his death (because this doesn't cover Marineford arc)/dropping into One Piece World/Reader being a childhood friend of Luffy, Sabo, Ace. Reader will have her own backstory

...

...

His mark has never bothered him so much until now.

_[Y/N L/N]_

There it is on his right forearm, a name... _her_ name...a natural mark that has been genetically designed since birth and tailored uniquely to each individual on this planet. And today, Portgas D. Ace's mark is burning. It isn't a painful experience but he can feel it throbbing. His body is always usually warm from the Mera Mera no Mi, but this type of sensation is wholly different. It is something he can't explain and it is making him somewhat anxious.

"It means she's close-yoi." was Marco's comment as he casts a sideways glance to the young man who is sitting cross-legged beside him and staring ardently at the mark.

"Huh?"

"It's okay, yoi. Trust me. You'll just know."

"You've got a mark too, right?"

"Yes."

"Did you find her?"

"Of course, yoi."

"How come I've never met her?"

"I didn't introduce her to you, yoi."

"...Did you bring her to meet Oyaji?"

"Nope."

"So what happened?"

Marco gives a casual shrug and takes a chug out of his beer before throwing his glance to the starry night sky where the moon is full and there is not a cloud in sight. "Just enjoy the feast, Ace. It's not everyday that we get invited to one."

Ace almost cringes and proceeds to glance around; they are seated cross-legged on the deck of a large pirate ship surrounded by men of all ages, shapes and sizes who do not belong to Whitebeard's crew, dancing and laughing and singing.

"Do you think she's here?" Ace questions, rubbing at the base of his chin.

"Could be, but I didn't see any females onboard. Just men here-yoi."

Marco and Ace exchange quick glances. Considering they were on a ship filled with nothing but pirates, surrounded by vast ocean...

As though reading his mind, Marco says, "Maybe she's a mermaid, yoi." Elbowing Ace with a grin, "Wouldn't be so bad, huh?"

"S-shut up." Ace mumbles, his cheeks growing red whilst Marco merely laughs.

Shrugging off the burning sensation that is swirling throughout his entire body, Ace takes a huge bite out of a roasted lamb leg that has been settled on his plate; he is young and handsome, and since he was born, he had the name of an unknown female imprinted on his arm. He didn't have to ask what it meant for Dadan and Makino had told him of romantic and adventurous swashbuckling tales of the origins of the words and its meaning; it is the name of his soulmate, his one true love, and when he finds her, they will be bound by the red string of fate for all eternity. Considering his goal is to make Oyaji the King of Pirates, he is not sure he has time for this. He hasn't cast a thought to the name yet nor is he sure what to think about it. He has often wondered who or what she might be, what she may look like, but he decides that when the time comes, it will come.

"Brutus' food is pretty good-yoi." says Marco, as he bites into his own food heartily and swallows.

"Brutus?"

"Yeah. I figured you wouldn't know him, yoi. He used to be quite active in the past...now he's pretty low key with not much to his name...and a bounty of thirty million beli to his head. We're just here to represent Oyaji...so, guess we should just enjoy it whilst we can-yoi." Marco replies, eyeing their fellow Whitebeard comrades who are also enjoying the banquet.

Only Vista and Izo have been invited, along with Ace and Marco. They are the only Whitebeard Division Commanders who were selected by Oyaji himself to attend the banquet as representatives since Oyaji himself was unfortunately not able to come, laden with matters of his which had to be attended to. The good news is that Captain Brutus doesn't appear too bothered by the missing presence of one of the world's greatest and strongest pirates.

Although not very pleased to be part of this, Ace decides the food and the overall general atmosphere makes up for it. A smile plays on his lips as he watches on; Marco and Izo seem to be having a great time, whilst Vista looks at ease, snoozing in one corner with a chicken drumstick in hand. The ship's musicians are in one corner belting out jovial music from their harmonicas, accordions and drums whilst some of Brutus’ men can be seen dancing in circles and cheering wildly. Others are huddled in groups, laughing loudly as they share their stories of adventures out on the Grand Line.

The host, Brutus himself, is seated in front of the closed doors of his own captain quarters, surrounded by the biggest, most greasiest-looking heap of food of all and a barrel full of beer. Captain Brutus, as his name suggests, is an extremely intimidating man with deeply tanned skin, a massive figure to boot packed with bulging muscles, and his face is also a nightmare with the many scars - three across his eyes and down his left cheek, a nick on his chin, a stretched line across his forehead, a criss-cross scar over his right eye and finally, a scar dotting around his neck that resemble stitches.

"I heard a long time ago, he was caught by the marines and sentenced to death-yoi. They cut off his head but apparently he was still alive and he stitched his head back on himself." Marco continues to comment, as he notices Ace staring at the sinister-looking man.

Seeing Ace and Marco gazing at him, Brutus aims a sleazy grin at their direction and holds his mug up high in the air, exposing a top row of gold teeth whilst the bottom row is silver. Dressed in nothing but black pants and a typical pirate's swashbuckling jacket which hung over his shoulders, the name 'Brutus' fitted him very well in this case.

They'd been onboard for a few hours now with seemingly no end to this feast until finally, Brutus stands up and the entire ships rocks to the side slightly; he throws his clenched fist over the table in front of him violently, causing candlesticks and a few plates to fly off and smash on the floor, effectively stopping every single man onboard in their endeavors. Everyone rises to stand accordingly, waiting. With all eyes on the host, he inhales a large breath and bellows out, "Thank ye all for coming! I am Brutus, and welcome aboard! Today, we celebrate..." He leaves his sentence to grab a rather large chain that is lying on the table, "Me _wedding_!"

As Brutus' men whoop and cheer, Marco and Ace glance at each other and some of the Whitebeard crew, "Wedding?!" comes everyone's stunned responses.

Brutus gives the chain a sharp tug; it rustles loudly and it seems to be leading into the captain quarters. The doors open and from within, a pale figure emerges out from the darkness and steps onto the deck.

A hushed silence follows immediately upon her arrival.

A girl stands beside Brutus, he is so huge she doesn't even reach his shoulders. Brutus is a giant of a man compared to the others (not as tall as Oyaji, however) and the girl is of average height, donned in a plain and drab, greying wedding gown with the bottom hem of the dress torn at her ankles to reveal a pair of grubby bare feet which are bound by shackles that connect to the chain which Brutus is holding onto. Another pair of shackles are also looped around her wrists, keeping her arms held together. No-one can see what she looks like because a thin ghostly-white veil is thrown over her head.

As soon as Ace lands his eyes on the bride however, his marks burns intensely. "Agh!" He grunts, holding onto his arm; the mark is stinging, the pain is becoming rather excruciating.

"What's wrong-yoi?" Marco asks; he seems worried as Ace turns away, hissing with pain.

"It hurts." He explains.

Marco is quick to respond, his eyes widening. " - The moment she came out-yoi."

Clutching his arm, Ace glances to the direction of the girl. "You don't mean..."

Glancing at the bride and the groom, Marco watches as Brutus tugs on the chain fiercely. "Stand up properly!" Brutus growls as he tugs on the chain and pulls on the shackles; she is forced to shift, hobbling slightly and standing upright rigidly as he had demanded. Brutus seems pleased, judging from the wicked grin that had spread on his face.

"We have a problem-yoi." Marco utters, rubbing the back of his head.

Ace can't stop himself from staring at her: although he can't tell what she looks like, the girl has a well-developed chest and a slim, narrow waist. Not bad...

Obnoxious, nasal laughter escapes Brutus' throat as he slings an arm around her shoulders and she seems to crumble under his weight. "Lads, feast yer eyes. Caught fresh from the fishing village of Mousehole. This beauty belongs to me as of today! For me eyes only! Well, until we exchange vows, that is." He starts to guffaw, fiddling with the bottom of her veil. The girl squirms in response and tries to wriggle away from him.

As Brutus' men cheer louder and louder, Ace and Marco exchange brief glances to each other. Marco shakes his head sadly at Ace. "I'm sorry-yoi. She's to be married to another, to Brutus nonetheless. Ace, I'm so sorry-yoi."

"Marco, wait - " Ace stops to avert his gaze back to the girl. This is his soulmate? If she is, should she not have the same response as him too? Should her mark not be burning? Maybe it is a mistake...? He can see her shoulders shuddering, her head hanging low. Defeated. The girl turns, shoulders still sagging, and waddles inside. Brutus follows her; the doors close behind them and the celebration continues. Brutus would be exchanging vows soon; the musicians are already preparing, removing their tatty pirate wear in favor for black suits and white shirts and bowties. Ace declares, "I should go talk to her."

"Are you crazy-yoi? Brutus just went in there." Marco says; usually he is a calm but he seems surprised by Ace's words. "What are you going to say-yoi?"

"I, uh, I dunno... but I'll be fine, Marco." Without uttering another word, Ace leaves his bewildered companion and heads to the captain quarters. The others are too busy celebrating to notice him as he opens the doors and enters, then closes the doors behind him. There is a corridor ahead and he sees some familiar, unlocked shackles lying on the floor but he doesn't see Brutus or the bride anywhere...instead, he can hear some form of commotion further deep inside.

_"DIE!"_

He can hear the sound of rapid footsteps, the sound of flesh squelching.

_"Bitch! I'll kill you!"_

Then he hears a pained grunt - a man's. It is Brutus.

Sprinting forwards, Ace turns the only corner that leads to the left only to come to a grinding halt. The ground is splashed with blood and Brutus is clutching a gaping wound on his chest whilst a palm is slammed over his left eye. Blood pours uncontrollably between the gaps of his fingers, however, and the weapon - a small blade - is discarded on the floor. He is on his knees spluttering helplessly and suddenly, a chain flies out from behind him and wraps around his neck, making him fly backwards, tightening around his thick neck. Gagging and struggling to breathe, Ace sees that it is none other than the bride who rises above him from behind, pulling on the chain so viciously, he can see her knuckles turning white - she didn't seem so timid and weak now; no, in fact here she was with her legs wrapped tightly around his torso, preventing any means of escape with the chains held tightly in her fists. 

Stunned for a brief moment, Ace quickly snaps out of his reverie. "Hey, you!" Ace yells, and she look up and behind the thin, misty veil, he believes he saw her eyes narrow but he isn't sure. Brutus' face is turning blue, and he lets go of his wounds to grasp the chain. Ace can see he has been slashed across the chest and also been stabbed in the eye - his left eye is nothing but a red, pulpy mess whilst the intact right eye is bulging out of it's socket at the prolonged lack of air; Ace needed to do something quick. The bride pauses in her actions but the deed is done - Brutus falls unconscious, choking one last foul breath between his gold and silver teeth before falling over his front, right eye closing whilst the left eyeball rolls completely out of its socket. He drops over the floor like a fallen log, causing the walls to shake slightly.

"Bastard." curses the bride; from her voice he can tell she is younger than he had initially thought.

He frowns, brows furrowing before he clenches his fists which are becoming engulfed in flames. "Who are you?" He demands. Fighting females isn't part of his decree, but what is he supposed to do in this instance?

"I don't answer to you, filthy pirate scum." She barks, before she suddenly proceeds to bend down, fist closing over the bottom of her dress - and he accidentally catches sight of her cleavage at the same time - and she quickly tears off the dress to a manageable length that it hung to her knees. Then she proceeds to rip the middle of her dress, exposing her flat midriff.

Ace's eyes grows wide. "Whoa, what - "

When he stops, she looks up, seeing that he is standing still with his eyes closed. Unmoving. Snoring. Her brows furrow in confusion as she lets go of the chains she had used to strangle Brutus and unwrap them from his fat neck, letting them fall to the floor with a loud 'clunk'; she kicks away Brutus' limp body to the side, fetches a pair of swords she had kept tucked safe under the bed and then -

" - are you doing." He suddenly speaks up and she leaps in fright. Turning to him again, she sees that he is awake. An awkward silence spews in the air as he rubs the back of his neck. "...Sorry, I fell asleep." Ace utters, a little sheepishly.

"Whatever, I'm going to kill you anyway." She says causally, and without waiting any longer, she suddenly dashes forwards with unearthly speed.

"Wait!" Ace exclaims as he dodges her attack by sidestepping to the right, narrowly avoiding the swish of a blade which she brings crashing down at his direction. Dare he hit a female? Well, she is trying to _kill_ him. Perhaps the best he can do here is to subdue her somehow, then demand answers later...as she swings her blade towards him again, he catches the tip with his hands, making his flames grow larger and larger until the steel starts to glow an angry scarlet. He can hear her growling as she struggles against him and the heat from the fire on the blade soon stretches towards the handle; in an effort to get him to release the blade, she twists her body round and delivers a hefty kick to his bare chest. Anticipating her to resort to melee combat, he releases her blade and with hand outstretched, he grasps her veil and pulls it off as he goes careening against the wall. Her strength is a bit startling considering her lithe frame as he rubs at his chest where she had kicked him.

Looking at his hand where a fistful of shredded wedding veil is caught in his fingers, he glances up, and before him is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. His eyes widen promptly. His heart thumps hard against his ribs and his chest constricts into a tight knot, his breath sticks in his throat.

She seems oblivious to him, preoccupied in clutching her arm. Hearing her emit a hiss of pain, he notices she seems to be in agony and he glances at her and she meets his gaze briefly but then she quickly dismisses him, sheathing her katana into its holster which she has strapped around her waist; instead she averts her focus on the unconscious Brutus on the floor. Grabbing him, she effortlessly starts dragging him towards the window immediately.

That got him back to his senses. "Wait!" He shouts again, as she smashes the glass using the back of her elbow and with a giant tug, she tosses Brutus out of the window and instead of meeting of the ocean, there is a loud 'thud!' outside; she climbs onto the windowsill, holding the frames for support then throws him a quick glance over her shoulder just as the sounds of the door flinging open can be heard along with the sounds of heavy footsteps that come pounding down the corridor.

Marco bursts into view immediately. "Ace! There are marines outside-yoi!" Spotting the bride and the unmoving Ace, he pauses and blinks, "Ah..."

But the bride is gone, disappearing through the window and outside. She had jumped. Ace rushes over to the window immediately and spots her landing on the deck of a ship with white sails where countless of men in white uniforms greet her with a salute.

A marine.

She is a marine.

He watches as a chore boy rushes to her with a white coat which she quickly pulls on; she starts barking orders and the men are soon beginning to tie up the unconscious Brutus and as someone steers the ship away, Ace is suddenly at a standstill with the utmost, strongest desire not to let her escape at any cost.

"Ace, what happened-yoi. Nobody knows where these marines came from. Nobody even noticed."

"Stand back, Marco." Ace utters. Clenching his knuckles, he lets flames engulf his entire arm before slamming his fist towards the direction of the fleeing marine ship. " _HIKEN_!"

An enormous blast of fire explodes from his curled fist and hits the ship head on and immediately there is the sound of loud roaring as the ship abruptly smashes into thousands of pieces and a gigantic mushroom cloud fills the atmosphere; Marco immediately leaves to return to the deck to ensure everyone else is safe whilst Ace lingers; when the dust and fog dissipates, he sees various unconscious marines floating in the water, clearly out cold whilst the massive white figurehead of the Moby Dick soon sailed into view. Oyaji had returned for them! He smirks to himself as he meticulously combs the wreckage for any sight of the bride. He saw Brutus floating face down in the water but he is soon scooped out by his crew who had made it safely onboard a lifeboat.

"Ace!"

Looking up, he spots a marvellous blue Phoenix flying near him. "Marco!"

The bird approaches, flapping its wings and emitting beautiful blue wispy flames. "C'mon, I got the Striker; let's get out of here. Izo and the others got away safely and Oyaji has arrived to get us-yoi."

Glancing below, he can see his small raft bobbing up and down gently over the water. "You go on ahead first."

Nodding, Marco flies ahead first and Ace swiftly leaps out of the window and lands on the awaiting Striker; using his flames to ignite the engines, he steers it towards the direction of the Moby Dick until he spots the bride amongst the wreckage; she is half in the water and half-lying on a piece of broken door, eyes closed but aside from that, she appears relatively unharmed...even if she could potentially be his soulmate considering his arm was hurting the entire time he had been onboard, her identity as a marine was burdensome... He nears her on the Striker and as he passes her, he brings the Striker to a slow stop. Unsure what to do, he reaches down and scoops her out of the water and into his arms. She's damp and light in his arms, and the wedding dress is becoming transparent. His cheeks reddening somewhat, Ace pulls the coat tighter over her body to cover her up but then his eyes widen.

And there it is, clear as day.

Imprinted on her arm is his name, _**GOL** **D. ACE.**_


	2. Fighting is Flirting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos and comment. I forgot to put in the previous chapter the disclaimer: I don't own One Piece. Apologies in advance for any OOC.

**FIGHTING IS FLIRTING**

...

...

You wake up with a start, your head throbbing. It's morning. The last thing you remember is being in the water because your ship got hit by a massive fire blast courtesy of that weird but hot, shirtless pirate with the messy black hair, gray eyes, freckles and the orange hat... You sit up abruptly, the thin blanket falling to your lap as rage consumes you. Your fists curl, your knuckles cracking. Vengeance would be yours. But first...

...where exactly are you?

Glancing around, you are lying on a soft bed of a typical bedroom but you feel the gentle rock of waves underneath and you deduct you are on someone's ship. Theres's an empty IV tube and a drip feed stand beside you so this must be the ship's infirmary. Had you been rescued, and by whom? You note that you are wearing a white t-shirt that is far too big for you and it certainly belongs to a male...it smells of musk and smoke...and underneath you have black shorts that are also not your own. You spot your marine coat and the ripped wedding dress (to think you were about to be wed to a wretched, disgusting pirate made you want to hurl) hanging on the wall so you quickly got out of the bed and walked up to retrieve the coat. Unfortunately the coat is still damp in the sleeves so you leave it alone and you open the door only to collide into someone and as you stumble backwards, a grip on your wrist catches you and stops you from falling but nevertheless, you slam into a warm but rock-hard chest and look up.

"Whoa! Sorry, didn't see you there. You okay?" It's the weird but hot, shirtless pirate with the messy black hair, gray eyes, freckles and the orange hat... and your eyes widen.

Your instincts kicking in, you grab one of his arms and seize him by the back of the neck with your other hand - much to his surprise and before he can even react - and you toss him effortlessly over your shoulder - a judo throw which you'd been taught in your early days in the academy - and he goes flying to the ground with a loud _thump!_ and his hat flops off. With his other arm hostage in your grip, you subdue him and jerk his arm backwards with your knee digging into his spine, digging into the massive purple skull tattoo that is inked over his lean back, his chin touching the floorboards.

"Ouch..." He grunts, and before you can do anything else, you hear the many sounds of blades being whipped out, pointing at your neck. You are suddenly surrounded by a large group of men. Pirates. Immediately, there is a hubbub of voices:

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Let him go."

"Yeah! Let go of our commander!"

"Let go of Ace!"

With a barrage of threats aimed at you, you quickly avert your glance to the man who you have pinned underneath you. This young man is called Ace... he is the commander, the same man who destroyed your ship with a single fire blast... he turns his head to look at you from the corner of his eye and blows a messy strand of thick black hair from his eyes, and grins at you.

"Relax everyone, I got this." Ace murmurs as you narrow your eyes at him, and soon, you find your hands growing hot and you let go of him immediately as flames start engulfing his body. You spring backwards and the swords follow you. Ace leaps back onto his feet and picks up his hat, just as you seize this opportunity where everyone seems more concerned with his wellbeing to notice that you were preparing an attack.

You grab an unsuspecting pirate and bring your clenched fist slamming down on the length of his arm, effectively causing him to drop his sword before you punch him in the nose. He screams, clutching his bloody nostrils. That grabs everyone's undivided attention; you evade the timely slashes of their blades that were now being aimed at your direction by ducking and dodging and deliver a swift and sweeping low kick to another pirate, followed by a devastating punch to another's belly. The man goes soaring against a railing and drops to the ground, out cold. With clenched fist, you are about to slam your knuckles into the face of another man until Ace suddenly appears before you and catches your fist and tug you forwards until your faces are inches away from each other, the flames beginning to engulf your hands.

"Feisty, aren't ya?" He says, and you start to wince from the unbearable heat.

"Let go!" You snap, and he releases you, leaving you to cradle your aching hand. Although to your utmost surprise, the heat subsides in a split second and you are fine. You turn to him, frowning. "Who are you and where am I?"

"I'm Portgas D. Ace, Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates. And you're on the Moby Dick." He says. Portgas D. Ace? Is that not quite similar to the name on your arm? It's just _Portgas_ and not _Gol_. But what did this mean? As though he is reading your mind, he rubs the back of his neck. "Um, you see..."

It's then you spot the mark on his bare, muscled arm.

It's your name.

Your eyes widen at the sight. Oh. Oooh. Ohh no. Oh no, no, no. No. No way. Your soulmate is a _pirate_...? How could this be? Is this some kind of cruel, sick joke?

He flicks his glance to you, giving you a sweeping look from head to toe. "We're...uh...you and I...you're my..."

You frown viciously, eyes narrowing. "So you're a pirate and I'm a marine you've captured. What are you going to do to me? Make me walk the plank? Flog me?" You don't want to address the soulmate mark for now. Following your words is a silence as the pirates exchange glances with one another before abruptly bursting into peals of laughter. You are downright confused and as you glance at each and every one of them, you scream, "You'll never take me alive!" But your response only earns more raucous laughter from the group until a man dressed in purple with blond hair whom you hadn't noticed earlier, slowly approaches your group and sidles up to Ace, planting his hand on his shoulder.

"Yo. What's with all the noise-yoi? Everything alright?" He asks.

"Hey Marco, we're fine."

"Well...She's woken up-yoi. What should we do with her?"

Ace shrugs, "I dunno, we should probably - " He stops in mid-sentence for his eyes had closed and his head dropped, light snoring can be heard.

"Ace," says the purple man, shaking him and snapping his fingers in his face. "Wake up-yoi."

With that, Ace jerks back upright, continuing where he left off as though whatever had just happened, didn't just happen. " - take her to see Oyaji, he'll know what to do." He finishes, and you are staring at him with your jaw hanging somewhat.

The purple man addresses the rest of the group. "Alright, everyone, you heard Ace. We'll take her to see Oyaji. Go back to work-yoi. Nothing to see here. Those who got hurt, take them to the nurse's office."

Meanwhile, Ace throws in a few apologies on your behalf. You watch this interaction in bewilderment as the pirates you had attacked have no choice but to suck it up and not seek revenge on you because of Ace, although they do throw you some bitter looks.

"...Only cos you're our future sister-in-law." One of them mutters under his breath.

Your eyes widen. No way!?

As the rest of the crowd disperse at the man's instructions, you are left alone with the purple-shirt man and Ace, who doesn't seem to be able to look at you in the eye. Since you are the least bit interested in finding more about what you had just witnessed, you quickly turn and flee the opposite way - you run to the nearest railing and promptly fling yourself over and you can see the ocean below - you are almost there - However, someone is quicker and grabs you in the nick of time and pulls you backwards; you let out a grunt as you topple onto the deck and crane your head round, it is none other than Ace who had grabbed you from behind, effectively preventing your escape with his arms wrapped securely around your waist.

"What are you doing?! You wanna kill yourself that badly?" He barks at you.

"I'd rather die out there than die here!" You snap in response.

"Calm down, we're not gonna kill ya." He says, but you elbow him in the gut with all your might and he chokes and wheezes from your unexpected strength, he doesn't let go; instead, he holds on even tighter and you start to struggle, the both of you rolling around on the deck in a tangle of limbs until he drags you up to stand, your legs kicking and flailing, still with his arms around you, your back to his chest.

You can hear him yelling for you to calm down but all you wanted was him to get his grubby mitts off you, so you kick off using the railing near you and propel yourself backwards, although this meant taking Ace with you too - and his back collides with a pillar as you had planned. You hear him emit an 'ooof' before you ram your head backwards and he abruptly lets go of you then, rubbing at his nose. You drop to the ground in a low crouch.

Taking this opportunity to escape once more, you make a frantic dash only for a wall of fire to suddenly appear from nowhere, abruptly halting you in your tracks and through the flames, Ace leaps out and proceeds to tackle you none too gently to the floor; with the both of you rolling (again), you try to scrabble onto your feet but Ace is quicker - he pins you down by sitting on your back and as you wrestle and wriggle, he gives you a triumphant smirk. However, the victory is short-lived as he didn't anticipate you kicking him from behind and he goes stumbling; rolling to sit upright, you catch him in a death grip with your legs wrapped around his neck and his chin on your crotch. His cheeks grows warm at the arrangement but you only increase your grip, causing him to splutter. He smacks you on the thigh repeatedly, face going red as you choke the life out of him but this only makes you apply more pressure and the rest of the pirates are starting to return and the man in purple is first to arrive.

"Ace!" He exclaims, but Ace stops him.

"It's fine, Marco...I got this..." He wheezes out.

Marco sighs. "If you two are done flirting with each other, we got more important stuff to do-yoi."

Whilst Ace's face reddens, you let go of him immediately, leaving him to cough and splutter and regain his breath whilst you attempt to deliver a spinning kick to his companion who is approaching; Marco ducks and catches your leg, then easily throws you to the side and you slam into one of the pillars of the ship, rendering you unconscious in seconds.

"...Sorry-yoi." says the purple man as Ace gets back up, rushes to your side and lifts you into his arms.

"Hey, wake up!" He shakes you, but there is no response.

"S'okay, I didn't hit her too hard-yoi..." Marco says, rubbing the back of his neck. "She'll wake up again. You alright? How's your nose-yoi?"

"I'm fine." He grumbles, as Marco hands him a tissue to which Ace refuses though and sniffles instead.

"Are you sure it's her-yoi?"

"Yes."

He rubs his chin. "She's pretty vicious-yoi, if you ask me. I wonder what Oyaji will say, yoi."

"I dunno..."

There's a slight silence.

"Well. Looked like you had fun when she had you caught between her legs-yoi."

"Shut up, Marco."

...

You wake up again in the same bedroom. This time, your head, back and neck hurts and you are tired... However, ignoring all the signs that your body is going to give out soon, you jump out of bed and see that you are still in the same t-shirt and black shorts and now your head is bandaged. You hastily leave the room and step outside to see that it is now dark and you are still on the blasted pirate ship, much to your confusion and chagrin. To your left, you also spot the two pirates from before - Ace and the blond-haired one who had smacked you quite hard into the pillar - they are both casually chatting to each other until they notice your presence.

"And she's awake again-yoi." drawls the purple one. "Sorry about earlier."

Moving yourself into an offensive stance, you lunge at them immediately with a snarl but Ace goes to anticipate you first. "I got this, Marco." He says, cracking his knuckles with a grin. With his arms out, he beckons you closer with one hand in a 'come here' motion, ready for round two. You clench your fist back and slam your knuckles hard into his chest - the blow could've been easily blocked - and Ace goes careening, his heels skidding across the planks.

"Ace! What are you doing?" Marco shouts, but the young man leaps up and brushes off your attack, flames spreading across his torso.

"That was nothing." He says with a grin, "My turn now: _Enjomo_!"

A wall of fire bursts forth from his body and surrounds you and you are taken aback from his powers until he suddenly appears in front of you and a flaming fist is about to connect with your face. You squeeze your eyes shut, your hair fluttering backwards as you brace for impact.

But nothing happens.

Opening your eyes, Ace is standing before you, grinning, his fist lowered. Huh? Looks like he isn't going to knock you out after all...

Panting heavily, your knees are trembling slightly and exhaustion takes hold of you; you drop to the ground uncontrollably, sucking in noisy breaths. The one called Ace looks extremely amused by your efforts as he watches you. "I noticed the way you fight earlier. You're pretty strong but you seem to run out of stamina pretty quickly and you go straight in for the kill." He comments as he squats down beside you. You frown as he smirks.

"Just...kill me already..." You grunt out. Tired, you are struggling to stand. You can't keep this up any longer.

"Kill you? Why would we kill you?" Ace replies. You look at him in confusion, as he adds, "Now will you listen to what we have to say?"

"I don't associate myself with the likes of you, filthy pirate scum." You bit back.

"Well, this filthy pirate scum here is Marco." He says, jabbing his thumb to the purple one who greets you with a wave and a casual 'hi', "And I'm Ace, but I think you know that already."

"...Why did you save me back there?" You hiss. "You destroyed my ship and killed my crew."

"Ah. Yeah. Sorry, I didn't mean to. Force of habit." Ace says, a little too nonchalantly for your liking, "And I didn't kill your crew. We just left them behind."

You don't know if that's meant to make you feel better or worse...

"Forgive him, yoi. You're his soulmate." Marco adds; he too, like Ace had spoken quite casually. "And he's your soulmate-yoi."

Finally standing, you shake your head, wobbling somewhat on the spot. "No. A pirate cannot be my soulmate. This mark means nothing. It doesn't mean anything."

You swear you see Ace's expression crumble into disappointment but you pretend not to notice. Rolling the sleeve of the t-shirt to expose the mark but only up to 'ACE', you proceed to dig your fingernails into your skin and as Marco and Ace watch silently, you start to tear off the skin and when it is all gone and your arm is a red, bleeding mess, you throw the ruined skin to the floor. It's a bloody, red pulp which has both men gawping at the sight.

"It doesn't work like that, yoi." Marco is quick to respond, "It will - "

"Grow back? Yes, and I'll keep ripping it off every time it grows back until the day I die." You quip.

There's a slight silence between the three of you, and Marco calmly plants his hand on Ace's bare shoulder. He looks a little defeated and deflated. Nevertheless, you see him suddenly muster a wide grin and he says, "Well, that's not the main reason you're here anyway. We're not gonna hurt you."

There is a bad feeling stirring in the pit of your gut. Why are they so relaxed? You had just attacked both of them, and a few of their comrades earlier on too! What are they going to do to you now?

You're brought out of your thoughts when there's something being fastened on your arm tightly and you turn to see Ace at your side, tying a little piece of cloth over your tarnished arm as a bandage to stop the bleeding. "...You shouldn't do that to yourself." He mutters.

You blink in shock.

"Are you hungry?"

You gaze at Ace in stunned silence. Now that you have a better look at him, you notice he is undoubtedly attractive for a pirate, for the pirates you had come across in the past were always obese, misshapen, gross or ugly, with either missing teeth, limbs or fingers...they were also complete with foul body odor from being at sea for so long, nasty breath, greasy hair, oily tanned skin, scurvy from the lack of proper nutrients... and also those who had eaten a Devil Fruit meant they came in all sorts of shapes and sizes accompanied with bizarre powers. You raise a brow at Ace's surprisingly polished, normal appearance before also taking note that he is wearing nothing else except from his hat, black shorts and black boots. His muscles are toned and sculpted, his biceps sturdy and streamlined, his shoulders wide and broad, his six pack chest glistening underneath the light from the sun, you can't help but spare a second glance. You have never seen such a fit man before in your life...even the marines you work with are not this ripped. Feeling awkward that you'd just ogled him, you turn away and reply with a brief, "No."

"Great, let's go see Oyaji then. We've kept him waiting." He replies, completely oblivious to your staring.

"Oyaji?"

"Whitebeard." Marco says. "But we call him Oyaji-yoi."

The two men escort you across the deck but they don't put you in shackles, which confuses you (and also makes you think they're extremely stupid...) but nevertheless you have no intention to fight back or escape and they lead you into a room where a massive, gargantuan beast of a man sits at the far end on a plushy recliner before you; he towers over your entirety and you stare, slightly in awe at the size of this marvelous specimen of man. His moustache is even stranger; it is a brilliant shade of pure white and also the shape...it is a crescent moon shape tucked directly under his nose, sticking upwards like the horns of an ogre. Very interesting. This is Whitebeard himself... you had to appreciate how he is far more intimidating in person, and he hasn't even spoken a single word yet.

"Oyaji, we brought her." Ace says, and whilst the man acknowledge them and exchange a few words, they then avert their attention to you.

"I've heard about you." says Whitebeard, taking a chug of his gourd whilst you raise a brow. His voice is gruff and rough to match his appearance. "You're [Y/N] [L/N], Captain of the 24th Division. I don't think we have ever crossed paths." Taking another swig of his drink, he laughs and adds, "And I've been informed you are my son's soulmate. He is quite taken with you already."

You don't bat an eyelid whilst Ace's face goes red.

"And you were onboard Brutus' ship under disguise as his bride before you attempted to murder him."

You reply, "He went to the village of Mousehole to plunder and to kill everyone there, and I went to stop him. He captured a girl but I snuck onboard and took her place instead."

"Hm. I see. And because of that, his crew have sworn vengeance and now my son has brought you onboard our ship."

"I was trying to arrest Brutus but now my ship has been destroyed and my crew are now missing, thanks to your second division commander here. Your 'son'." You growl out. According to Rule One Hundred and Thirty Three of Absolute Justice, Ace's bounty should be increased by approximately one hundred million for the obstruction of justice, assaulting a Captain and her shipmates, and also destroying property of the World Government...

Whitebeard says, "I believe he brought you onboard to protect you from Brutus' wrath."

"What do you mean?"

"Brutus won't dare to harm anyone on this ship as long as I'm on it."

"I don't need protection. I don't need protection from a _pirate_ , from pirates."

Ace suddenly moves to stand in front of you, "Don't hand her over to them, Oyaji."

"Ace, she's a marine and she attacked some of the others earlier-yoi." Marco points out. "Brutus will come for her-yoi."

Understanding there is a risk of war between Whitebeard and Brutus, you say, "Mr Whitebeard." You speak clearly and calmly whilst Ace averts his gaze from Whitebeard to you, "You can return me to Brutus. I understand you keeping me here will also incur his wrath some way regardless. I can deal with him myself. That way, I implicate no-one. I understand Brutus is an ally of yours and you want to keep it that way. The best thing to do right now is to hand me over, inform him that you have captured me, then Brutus will not harm anyone on this ship."

"I can't let that happen." Ace says quickly as Whitebeard lets out a bark of laughter at your logic. "I brought her onboard, Oyaji. As Second Division Commander, I take full responsibility for my actions. I'll take her place."

"Don't be stupid-yoi." Marco grunts out.

Whitebeard emits a loud huffing sigh. "Brutus has given us three days to hand you over. Until then, you are welcome to stay here. Thatch can give you the tour tomorrow. Marco, Ace, you can show her where she'll be staying." He gives you a smirk; whilst Ace seems elevated at his words, you cock your head to the side. Did Whitebeard just subtly slip something in there? You are surprised by his level-headedness and generosity,

"Yossh, Oyaji." Marco acknowledges, and he starts ushering you out of the room with Ace following close behind.

...


	3. Hotarubi

**HOTARUBI**

...

...

_"Mama! Look!" You proudly show the mark on your arm; when you were born it was a blur, a messy black scrawl, but now you can see that the mark is becoming clearer and forming coherent words. "I can finally see what it says!"_

_"Hmm? Let's see here, dear..." Turning to you, she puts down the basket and you roll up the sleeve further up your arm for her. As she inspects your mark, she goes deathly silent and stares intently._

_"I wonder if he has my name too!"_

_"...Of course he has, my dear." She finally looks away, smiles at you and pulls your sleeve down, smoothes the fabric and resumes in picking mushrooms into her basket. "So, his name is Gol D. Ace."_

_"That's right, mama! I can't wait to meet him!"_

_"Be careful, dear. The name 'Gol' is dangerous."_

_You tilt your head to the side. "What do you mean, mama?"_

_She stops, purses her lip as though in thought, "...I'll tell you when you're older."_

_"Noooo, tell me right now!" You wail, clinging onto her arm, but she merely smiles gently at you._

_"Papa's about to come home for dinner and we've barely picked any mushrooms. Let's get a move on, hm?"_

_"Fiiiine..." Pouting, you cross your arms but then the thought disappears as you think about the mark on your arm. "I can't wait to meet Goldy Ace!" You declare happily, before you crouch beside her and pluck a mushroom from the ground, dropping it into the basket among many others. "We're gonna be the bestest of friendests! Just like you and papa!"_

_She chuckles in response, ruffling your hair. "Oh_ _, but the mark means so much more than that. One day, you'll come to understand that Ace will mean a lot more to you than you can ever imagine; it's a sign from the world, the cosmos, the universe. It's a strong, unbreakable bond." She says, "And the two of you will be together forever, because that's what the mark means."_

_You gleam brightly in response. "Yaaaay! I wanna be with him forever! Together forever!" You chant, "Together forever!"_

...

Together forever..

...that's what the mark means.

That's what everyone in the world knows and is aware of, but you stopped believing in it a long time ago and refuse to believe in it. It burns, despite you having ripped your skin clean off your own arm, and you cringe inwardly as you recall the few precious memories of your childhood where you had announced the sudden appearance of your mark and exclaimed to the heavens how excited you were to meet him and how much you wanted to be with Ace, forever. The pain is becoming a little unbearable... You feel as though the mark is punishing you somehow for rejecting it, for tearing it off. It will grow back, as Marco says. Your skin will grow back and heal of course, and the mark will return.

Just three days.

Brutus will come for you in three days...although, technically this is the first day so now you only have two days. Until then, you are stuck on this blasted ship and Whitebeard's subtle comment also means that Brutus will not dare lay a finger on you as long as you are onboard the Moby Dick... which effectively makes you Whitebeard's prisoner as it means if you want to live, you cannot leave the ship...so that also means you have a choice if you want to be with the Whitebeard pirates forever. No wonder Ace looked rather content when you all left Whitebeard's quarters. Much to your surprise, they had also returned your weapons - your pair of katanas - but fat load of good that will do with a ship full of bloodthirsty pirates, and not to mention, Whitebeard himself.

"What is she doing?"

"I dunno."

You can hear two pirates in front of you, chatting to themselves.

"Can she hear or see us?"

"Dunno. Say something."

"Like what?"

"I dunno, man."

"Er. Okay, ahem. Yoohoo! Little Miss Marine! Future sister-in-law! Can you see or hear us? No? Okay, cool. She's out, man."

"Hey, no fair... why do you get to have all the fun? Move aside, it's my turn: bleh bleh bleh blooo bloo dee bloo dee bloo - "

You open your eyes in a split second as you grab the offending pirate by the neck and he goes "gaah!" as your fingers clench firmly around his windpipe. "What do you thing you're doing?" You snarl.

"Ack! N-nothing!" He splutters.

"Then scram." Letting go of him roughly, you watch the pirates grovel at your feet for a few seconds before scampering away.

"W-we're sorry, future sister-in-law! Please forgive us!" You can hear them whimpering.

It's night-time and the Whitebeard pirates are throwing a feast (or maybe it's just dinner but there's more food here than there is compared to the academy's canteen and they are so...rowdy). Marco asked you to join earlier but you had refused, as if you would be caught socialising with pirates out of all things... you'd rather be beat up by kung fu dugongs over and over again than join the Whitebeards. You had spent the rest of the time since leaving Whitebeard's quarters to recover. You had plunged your swords on the roof of your room which is above deck and then proceeded to execute a handstand on the swords, balancing your palms on the pommels. You ensured to tie your hair up and also tuck your shirt into your shorts before doing so of course, or else you'd risk flashing yourself. Previously and you were meditating in order to gather your thoughts and replenish your energy and strength but now the pirates seem intrigued by your actions and earlier you had gathered a small crowd of curious men who were staring at you. If they thought you had also let your guard down however, they were solely mistaken.

There are other females onboard but one new female addition has made the crew excited even though you were a temporary addition, and one that didn't want anything to do with them nonetheless; the other aforementioned females are the nurses who helped patch you up - they wear typical nurse wear but you feel their skirts are too short and they wear leopard print boots that go over their knees; you stayed away despite their hospitality, wanting to be alone. They had their hands full with Whitebeard anyway, constantly fixing him up to IV tubes, taking his blood pressure, working on his prescriptions, scolding him for drinking etc. It is strange seeing nurses onboard a pirate ship. Furthermore, the women here are compliant. They want to be here and are happy being here. All of the pirates show respect to them. They are surprisingly a civil, peaceful bunch compared to the other ruffians you've arrested in your lifetime.

Also, everyone knows you are Ace's soulmate and he is yours. Word has spread around like wildfire and now you're being addressed as their future sister-in-law. They are excited for him and also pity him, due to the fact that you are a marine and he's a pirate... and also the fact that you have pissed off Brutus, who is out for your blood and most importantly, your head. You know Brutus will kill you but Ace seems determined not to let anything happen to you. He is a pirate and you are a marine and you feel nothing for the man for he is nothing but a stranger. The mark has finally done it's job. You've met him. Now it's up to you to go through with it, but only if you want to.

Your soulmate is Fire Fist Ace, a Devil Fruit user who you actually don't know much about because as Whitebeard mentioned before, you and Whitebeard have never crossed paths. But what you do know about Ace is that his Wanted poster doesn't do him justice (...he's far more attractive and taller in person, you begrudgingly admit) and he has a bounty higher than average pirates. He is so much stronger than you but he let you attack him earlier. Either for fun or sick kicks, you're not sure. He is known to be highly dangerous and yet here you are within a five metre radius of him and on Whitebeard's ship nonetheless and he hasn't remotely harmed you in any way. In fact, it's the other way round - he's been rather gentle and considerate.

Ignoring the men down below to the best of your ability, you try to focus on your current situation. Your crew are practically missing - probably dead - and your ship is destroyed. You felt the worst for Claus the chore boy who was only twelve years old. Despite the young age, he was a bright, smart boy and even though you didn't approve of having a kid onboard, there he was one day with his name on the list, conscripted under your division. You had dedicated a moment of silence in memory of him and your fallen crew earlier.

You have no Log Pose, no den den mushi. Maybe you can hijack one of theirs? Who would you call? Perhaps Vice Admiral Laurel (or Yanny, as some people seem to hear his name as)... You know for a fact that you cannot stay here no matter what. You feel alone. You _are_ alone... and you are on a ship full of dangerous men. As you work out a plan in your mind, you can now hear music in the background. Opening one eye, you glance over and down below to see the pirates who are now dancing around the fire, laughing, joking, belting out music from their instruments and singing along to the noise.

" _Oh the times was hard and the wages low. Leave her, Johnny, leave her! And the grub was bad and the gales did blow! And it's time for us to leave her!_ "

You aren't familiar with these songs, nor did you indulge in their mindless music. And unfortunately the music doesn't subside much to your dismay. In fact, the racket only grows louder. There's a small group who aren't participating in the jovial dancing and singing, however. There's some men in a corner near the barrels and you can hear them chanting.

"Ace! Ace! Ace! Ace!"

You glance over to see what the ruckus is all about but all you see is the black-haired commander engaged in an arm wrestling contest with a big and bulky, scary-looking man with a pudgy nose and missing teeth. They are surrounded by onlookers - whilst some are cheering for Ace, the others are chanting for his opponent to win so you hear a flurry of "Ace" and "Teach" thrown in the mix. You can see muscles bulging as the pirates cheer. Male testosterone is high in the air. It's clear Ace is about to win and with a loud yell, he throttles his opponent by slamming his arm down over the table.

"Gyaaah!" cries the loser, as Ace grins widely and throws his fist in the air. Marco comes over to congratulate him and a few others slap him on the back heartily. Ace glances at your direction but you look away, uninterested. You've noticed that he's been looking at you a lot. It's easy to tell when you're being stared at, and Ace isn't good at being subtle at all. He's constantly been flicking casual glances to you every now and then the entire night since he joined the feast. The second round of arm wrestling begins, this time with a heavily-armored, dark skinned man who towers over most of the crew on the ship. You've seen your fair share of giant men on this ship and he is no exception. His opponent is a young, brown-haired boy who doesn't seem fazed at all by his opponent's size.

You're not interested so you ignore them; however, a few moments later and -

"Oi, [Y/N]."

It's Portgas D. Ace. You do not look at him as he climbs up the ladder and jumps onto the roof, and you don't move as he squats in front of you and he's carrying this knapsack which he unfurls and you watch as he sets out various dishes for your taking - you see a pot of steaming, piping-hot broth, sandwiches, a slab that is full of different kinds of cheese and roasted meat - you see venison, seafood and boar - and there is also a loaf of bread in its wrapper. Once he finishes setting everything down, he looks up at you and he says, "I didn't know what to get for you, so I got everything."

You spare a quick glance to the food but did not move and close your eyes again.

He adds, "You should sit with us near the fire. It's cold out here."

You don't reply.

"You should eat something. You haven't eaten all day."

"I'm not hungry." You utter after a moment before throwing him a glance. He's still in his shorts and boots only. Isn't he _cold_? The temperature has dropped a few degrees celsius considering it was much warmer during the day.

He gives you a grin, happy that you've finally spoken. "Well, this is all for you. If you want more or if you need anything, we're over there." He says, jerking his thumb to the direction of the group, but you pay no heed.

" _Leave her, Johnny, leave her! Oh, leave her, Johnny, leave her! For the voyage is done and the winds do blow and it's time for us to leave her_!"

Maybe he should take a hint from the song they are singing; you want to be alone. There's a brief silence between the two of you until - "How's the arm?" 

"Fine."

"What are you doing anyway?" He asks. You don't reply so he circles you curiously and pokes at your side.

It's enough to elicit a response from you. "Hey." You bark at him.

"What?"

"Cut that out."

"Then tell me what you're doing." He returns to squat before you, your faces are close and you notice he has these little freckles and a high forehead.

"If I tell you what I'm doing, will you leave me alone?"

"Sure."

There's a brief silence between the two of you.

Ace is waiting.

So, you exhale loudly and say, "...Shirshasana."

"Huh?"

"It's an asana."

"What's that?"

"Never mind."

"You look funny upside down."

"It helps build upper body strength." You say, "Now leave me alone."

He chuckles, retreating his finger, and you think he'll go away but then he prods at your belly and it's your ticklish spot so he ends up accidentally shoving you off balance. You let out a squeak but he's quick to catch you with his arms out before you fall and before you both hit the ground, he turns you round so his back collides with the roof and he cushions your fall; you topple on top of him, your noses touching and your breath becomes lodged in your throat, your eyes widening. Ace stares up at you and you can feel his warmth radiating off his body and spreading all over you even though he's half naked. Oh. So that's why he doesn't wear a shirt nor does he feel cold. He's perpetually warm. His muscles are strong and sturdy and so is his grip on your waist, his arms wrapped around you tightly. You quickly attempt to push yourself off and look away from him, noticing that he's staring at you.

"Let go." You grumble, and finally he snaps out of whatever trance he was in and releases you. You hurriedly move to stand, turning away from him as he rises to stand also. A brief silence spawns.

"I won't let him hurt you." Ace suddenly blurts out, and you know he's talking about Brutus. "I'll come with you. I'll protect you from him."

His comment makes you frown and you whip round to face him. "I can take him. I took his eye, I can take his head, too."

"But you couldn't even avoid a hit from Marco." He points out.

"S-shut up! I don't need your protection; I'm a marine. I've arrested lots of pirates in the past, pirates who are much, much stronger than Brutus. Brutus is nothing. I can deal with him." You return to climb on top of your sword and execute a handstand and close your eyes again.

Ace cocks his head to the side but you remain quiet. You don't hear anything else and it goes silent, so you assume he's left and you open your eyes, only to see that he is squatting in front of you again, observing you with curiosity.

"Why are you still here?" You bark.

He holds his chin in his hand as he grins. "I thought I'd stay and keep you company."

"Don't need company. Go away." With that, you swap your hands around and maneuver yourself to face the other way. You hear him chuckle before he shifts to stand.

"Alright, alright. You should eat up then rest, it's getting late."

Then he climbs down the ladder and returns to the group and takes his seat beside Marco and a friendly-looking man dressed in white with a big pompadour and starts wolfing down his own meal, although he would spare glances up at you every now and then for the rest of the night. Once you finish your exercise, you return to sit down on the floor comfortably and settle your swords to stand on your left and right side respectively, then you quickly look at the food which is now growing cold, but you have no appetite so you don't touch anything. Moving yourself to sit cross-legged, you clasp your hands together and take a deep breath to begin deep and relaxing meditation.

It would be a good few hours until the merriment dies down and the fire burns away, leaving a comfortable silence which only lasts a few minutes as you soon hear loud snoring emitting from the hungover pirates; opening your eyes, you glance over to the group only to see that a few lanterns have been set up, casting a warm orange glow on the deck; a few pirates are sprawled over the deck, snoring away. A pirate is lying belly up and holding a mug of beer to his chest as he snores, whilst another has climbed up the mast to sleep, draping himself over it. It's a strange sight, but oh well. You see two pirates huddling in a corner whilst the other has a finger jammed up his nose the entire time as he snores. Another is sitting upright against a pillar with his arms crossed, snoozing, whilst the friendly-looking one you saw earlier is the only one still awake, tidying away the clutter on his own. He catches you staring and grins at you. Meanwhile, another pirate sitting in one corner plays a gentle, soothing melody on a harmonica. Everyone looks...happy and peaceful.

It's then you notice that Ace is not amongst the group and when it occurs to you that you had been searching for him, you mentally kick yourself. He must have returned to his quarters without you noticing (not that you care, no). The sea is calm and there's a cool, gentle breeze in the chilly night air. Looking up at the night sky, you are due to retire soon as well but you see the lush full moon and the beautiful spray of stars dotting the darkness, twinkling away. One cannot get this view anywhere, unless one is at sea. Deciding to linger a little longer, you try to get comfortable when all of a sudden, a little round blob of bright green light floats into your view. It bobs up and down, floating around you in a circle before it makes a sharp jerk to the right and returns to float gently in the air.

You blink, as the little green light is soon accompanied with another and another. Fireflies? No... You can tell its not a firefly despite trying to act like one, and you watch as you are soon surrounded, little green lights bobbing along gently around you. They seem to be hovering around you for a reason. It's a pretty sight, making you feel calm and at ease as you hold your hand out and the green light hovers towards you. However, the moment it settles over your palm, it disintegrates into little wispy flames and disappears.

From the corner of your eye, you see a dark figure shifting on the deck below and you turn round. You see that it is none other than Ace who had been leaning against the wall, staring at you. He quickly ducks after noticing that he has been spotted, to which you roll your eyes. A few moments later, he slowly shifts out of his hiding spot and rubs the back of his head, grinning at you sheepishly since he's clearly been caught. You both stare at each other for a while and you observe him wordlessly and he does the same to you also, but his eyes are soft and seems to hold a gentleness in them. He is the first to move however, breaking eye contact.

"Night." He says, loud enough only for you to hear. He tilts his hat to you, a rather polite gesture for a pirate, and sidles away with his hands in his pockets. You can see the moonlight reflecting off his broad, muscled shoulders.

The rest of the little green lights soon fade away following his departure, and you know he was the one responsible.

...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the kudos! Just a few notes to cover - 
> 
> 1\. Shirshasana is a type of yoga pose  
> 2\. The song the pirates sing is a real sea shanty  
> 3\. Hotarubi is one of Ace's moves where he uses the little green lights against his fight with Blackbeard but here he uses it to woo reader-chan heehee :)


	4. Talk

* * *

**TALK**

...

...

"You should go talk to her-yoi."

Ace's expression scrunches up in response to Marco's comment. "What should I say?"

"...Well, girls like to be complimented-yoi, so just say something nice. You could say - 'I like your hair', 'I like the color of your eyes' or 'You're pretty-yoi, let's go to the crow's nest sometime'. But only say what you really mean, so if you think she's pretty then you should tell her that-yoi."

Ace subjects his companion to a look of disbelief and Marco merely chuckles and shrugs before digging his hands into his pockets and Ace says, "Will that work?" His inexperience is showing. Ace thinks of the day before when he tried to strike conversation with her when she was doing the weird handstand on her swords. It's obvious he hasn't spoken to many girls before because he isn't sure how to deal with them. The nurses don't count because he thinks of them as sisters and being onboard the Moby Dick 24/7 surrounded by men means he hardly has any contact with members of the opposite sex at all. Maybe he should ask the nurses perhaps?

"Why not-yoi. Think about it." Marco assures.

"Why did you mention the crow's nest?"

"Because it's high up, no-one can see you, no-one can disturb you, people go there for privacy... that's why-yoi." With that, Marco chuckles and slaps him on the back. "Just go talk to her, yoi. Most importantly, be yourself."

Ace mulls over this for a while before ultimately spinning on his heel and he starts to head towards the opposite direction.

"Where are you going, yoi."

"I'm gonna go talk to her."

"Good luck, yoi." Marco calls after him. "You'll need it."

It's day two and she'll be handed back to Brutus tomorrow. He doesn't want her to be handed over of course, but when he goes to find her, he finds her room empty. He takes a while to search for her, asking a few brothers along the way if they’d seen her and after a few dead leads, a pair of navigators point him to the right direction. Ace locates her on a high platform above deck practising with one of her katanas whilst the other remains in its holster which is sticking out of the ground. He stops in his tracks to watch her for a few moments or so from his spot down below, intrigued. Her movements are streamlined and smooth as she wields the katana with a speed and gracefulness which he doesn't see from Haruta or Vista, the more prominent sword-wielders onboard who rely on sheer brute force. She weaves the blade fluidly, the steel becoming a blur as she twirls the handle like a baton. He leans against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest as he watches her navigate the katana swiftly and silently through the air, piercing the air with precise slashes. She's very flexible, he notes, when he lays eyes on her lithe form and how she moves her body to execute each move. Her shirt - _actually, it's his_ \- flutters with each move and the longer he watches the more he is rewarded with the occasional exposure of smooth silky skin of her abdomen and the line of her back. Ace does not go unnoticed; discovering that she has an admirer, she stops in mid-pose with her katana then returns to stand properly and lowers her sword, the tip pointing down.

"What do you want." She utters. It's worth mentioning that at this moment, she has her back to him so she wouldn't have seen him at all.

"Why did you stop?" He leans off the wall as she finally turns to him.

"Because you're watching."

A grin appears on his face and he leaps up high, his feet landing on the platform; he rises to stand and slinks closer to her side. Ace towers over her, she's eye level to his shoulders only.

"Go away." She says coldly as she looks up at him. She doesn't back down, however, and they're now just an arm's length away from each other. "I don't like people watching me while I train."

"I'm not bothering you or anything."

"I don't care; why are you here?"

He crosses his arms again, leaning in to peer at her. "We should talk."

She is about to speak but then she pauses and takes one step towards him. She challenges him in return, brow raised, "Talk?"

"Yeah, we should get to know each other better."

"What do you want to know about me?"

He scratches the back of his head. "Uh...hm...like your age, where you're from...why you're a marine...what you like and don't like." He gives a shrug and her frown only deepens. She seems really annoyed with his presence. Maybe he should leave... Hell, why did he take Marco's advice... This conversation doesn't seem to be heading to a good direction at all.

"Why should I tell you?"

"Because you're my soulmate."

She scoffs. "And to think someone like you believes in that kind of bullshit."

"Why not? What's the problem?"

"If you haven't noticed, I'm a marine and you're a pirate."

"So?"

"You don't mind?"

"No. Why would I? I don't care who or what you are. I think you're fine the way you are."

His comments takes her off guard and her face...which is usually pale... becomes an interesting shade of red. Her eyes widens slightly. There's a few moments of silence and Ace and the girl are staring intently at each other; strange, she has never looked at him this way before. Usually she'd subject him to an icy glare or her eyes would be full with hostility but this time her gaze is not aggressive...he's aware that he may have actually started to tap into that invisible wall she puts up around her.

This is groundbreaking and her mouth moves; she is about to say something but then suddenly a big figure pops near them with arms out in the air and exclaims loudly: "Ah, young love ~ It's so romantic! She's a marine and he's a pirate. She's a good girl and he's a bad boy. You're both on warring sides...but at the very end, the power of love will conquer everything!"

"Thatch!" Ace exclaims as he turns to the man, whilst the girl's face becomes even redder. She gathers her swords, frowning as she fastens them tightly to her belt.

"Please excuse me..." She's about to leave but newcomer Thatch immediately prevents her.

"Ah, wait! Hihi. Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you two but I thought I'd introduce myself. I'm Thatch and you must be [Y/N], our future sister-in-law. Everyone's talking about you. You're Ace's soulmate." Thatch greets her cheerfully but she doesn't seem interested at all and gazes at him with a dull and flat expression. She recognizes him as the same man from last night who was cleaning up after everyone. "Ace, may I steal your girl away for a few hours, hm? It's time for her grand tour!"

"Sure, go ahead, Thatch."

She protests immediately, "I'm not - "

"Great! Thanks, kiddo." Thatch turns to the girl, "I'll be your host today for your grand tour! You're free, right? Sorry I'm late, I was meant to show you first thing in the morning but as you can see, Ace got to you first...also, it got postponed due to some mishaps in the kitchen earlier."

"No, thank you. I don't need a tour. Tomorrow is my last day here after all."

"Ah, that's right. But you've got nothing else to do, hm?"

"I don’t, but..."

"Then come on, let's go!"

Ace watches as Thatch steers her off the platform and down the stairs, a smile playing on his lips. "Good talk!" He calls after them, his soulmate in particular, who whips round to him with a frown. He merely grins at her widely.

...

For the rest of the remaining afternoon, Thatch shows you around the ship, starting with the interior first to avoid the bad weather that has come out from nowhere. At first, you were against the tour but now it's actually been some help to you as you discover more about the ship. It's a tremendous size for a ship, either bigger or the same size as a ship that belongs to the Fleet Admiral. There are many rooms and quarters for up to sixteen division leaders and their teams, with select individuals being division leaders - Marco being the leader of the first division, Ace being the second, a man named Jozu being third division leader and so forth. Thatch is the leader of the fourth. It comes to your knowledge that Whitebeard may have up to one hundred people on his ship. Despite the large crew, everyone seems to get on very well with each other which you find a little hard to believe as politics are bound to be everywhere. Thatch shows you everything - the kitchen (Ace is not allowed because he once fell asleep and almost burned the place down), the pantry, the cellar where they keep their stash of rum (which is very important), the supply room, cable store, cubby hole, the nurse's quarters, Whitebeard's quarters, the Division Leader's quarters, and finally he starts showing you random areas above deck - you spot the crow's nest and point to it.

"Can we go up there?"

"Hm, not sure if that's a good idea, future sister-in-law." Thatch says, as the rain batters the both of you, the wind howling.

"Please, Mr Thatch?"

"Oh alright, fine. Since you asked so nicely." Thatch flashes you a grin and leads you to the ladder. To your utmost surprise, Thatch is nice and easy to talk to, succumbing to your requests easily and so you both found yourselves high above the ship, suspended at least fifty feet in the air, crammed in the tiny space. You are so close your shoulders are touching and Thatch's big frame means he takes up most of the room. "So what do you think?" Thatch adds, smiling widely; it's raining heavily and the wind is harsher up here and as Thatch scouts around for random things to tell you, he explains some of the ship's history but you hadn't really been listening because you were trying to find something...

Aha! There! You spot a small boat on its own, tied to the side of gunport. It's hard to see if you hadn't leaned so far over the railing.

Thatch quickly reels you in when he notices, "Whoa! Wouldn't want anything to happen to our future sister-in-law now." He pats you on the back. He's really cheerful and jovial; one would not believe he is aligned with pirates due to his friendly nature. "Well, let's go back down, hm? That concludes our tour. Welcome to the Moby Dick!"

"Thank you, Mr Thatch." You reply, for you are grateful that he showed you where they kept their food, their water, their spare boat, and not to mention, their extra weapons. " _Thank you very much_."

"You're most welcome! Is there anything else you wanna know?"

You ponder for a moment, then shake your head. Nope, you know where everything pretty much is in order to escape.

The both of you then proceed to leave the crow's nest and Thatch departs, but not before informing you that tonight's feast is in your honor since you are their very 'special guest'. You're not sure how you're a special guest considering you've tried to kill Ace before and also hurt some of their crew... unless Thatch meant it in a really cryptic way and since they're all a bunch of dastardly, cold-blooded pirates...well, you decided to keep your guard up. The possibility of it being a trap where they would poison you and flay you afterwards was high, so after you and Thatch split up you immediately get to work straight away, ensuring you are not being followed...but this is peak time and everyone looks so busy with their own work to notice you, so you deem it safe to head to the storage room which Thatch had showed you earlier and also graciously informed you that inventory checks were performed routinely seven times per day and you had now just come conveniently after the third check for the day. You are glad to find it empty and you glance at the food for your taking. Collecting an empty potato sack off the floor, you quickly load it up with some food that will last for a few days or so, mostly items that can be eaten without being cooked and last the longest such as some cheese, cookies, dried fruit and nuts. And just for the sake of it, you packed some meat.

With the sack in hands, you tuck it into your coat then sneak back on deck and glance around; there's still too many people and they will definitely notice you carrying a big bag so you find a safe spot to put away the food - inside an empty barrel near the foremast - and you take out the ropes that are being kept inside and stuff your stash in, cover it with the ropes and then replace the lid...and once the coast is clear, you casually return to the main deck.

You attempt to find a nice spot to meditate until you see a muscular, tanned man with a broad chest and curly black moustache and top hat who is training on his own. You notice him immediately because he wields two swords like you although he prefers sabers and his style is a lot different than yours... and you observe him slicing at the air and take mental note of his moves but as you look a little to your left, you see Ace and Marco in the midst of training, exchanging blows with each other until Ace spots you; he stops immediately in his actions, leaving himself wide-open to attack and Marco's leg cuffs him in the side of the head and he goes reeling.

"Pay attention-yoi." Marco says as Ace sits up and rubs at his head, but then Marco sees you and goes, "Oh."

You ignore them and eventually locate a spot for meditating far away from the training group; the rain doesn't subside but it isn't bothering you yet your ears quirk when you hear a few men grunting and barking orders to your left. Opening your eyes, you see a group of them pulling on a rope which is holding up a net full of barrels in the air but nothing is happening.

"Easy now, easy..." One of the men bellows, as the others hold onto the rope, struggling.

"It's stuck!"

"Can't we just let it go?"

"We could, but someone has to get it free and it's too high up."

You see that the other pirates are too busy to notice and the current group are in need of some assistance. Glancing up, you see what the problem is. The ropes are tangled together in a thick knot and its getting stuck in the lever that's meant to lower it down. Standing up, you grab the hilt of one of your katanas and pull it free from its sheath gently, holding the hilt in your hands. You shift to stand and in one expert, fluid motion, you bring your katana down and aim a flawless slash at the rope - a bright beam of light emits from your blade, hurtling towards the rope and the beam slices it neatly. The barrels drop and crashes to the deck and the pirates get pulled with the movement and topple forwards, but otherwise, the task is done. The men gape at you as you smoothly return your katana to its sheath. Finally, you can resume in your meditation, but then -

"T-thank you, future sister-in-law!" The men shout, and suddenly they are grovelling like crazy before you.

You wave a hand at them to dismiss them and they go and carry on with other duties. Strange, this is exactly how you would treat your fellow subordinates... there doesn't seem to be any difference... Pushing that thought away, you return to sit and close your eyes until you suddenly feel something being settled over your head and you re-open your eyes to see Ace squatting in front of you and he's placed his hat on you.

"What are you doing?" You ask, eyes narrowing.

"This will keep you dry." He says.

"I don't want your stinky hat." You lift a hand to take off the hat but he catches your wrist, his hand is abnormally warm against your skin.

"Keep it on for now so you won't get wet." He replies, "And I saw what you did just there. Thanks."

"...All I did was cut a rope."

Ace gives you a lopsided look and smirks. "Are you sure you don't wanna join us?"

"Yes."

"I'll take good care of you."

" _No_. I have no intention of becoming a pirate."

"How about a fight to settle this?"

"You want to fight me?"

"Yeah. If you lose, you'll join the Whitebeard pirates. But if you win, then I'll leave you alone."

You just want him to leave you alone. “Very well, I accept your challenge but I must warn you...when I fight, I fight to kill.“ You say with your eyes narrowed, removing his hat and tossing it back to him.

“That’s fine with me, I wouldn't want it any other way.” He says as he catches his hat and places it over his messy dark hair. Cracking his knuckles, his smirk widens. You're quite aware that Ace loves a good fight and he's never one to back down. "Let's do this."

Rising to stand, he moves to the other side of the ship opposite you; the wide space of the deck is big enough for a battle. Today, you will demonstrate the power of the marines. You glance at your katana in your left hand briefly - no-one seems to have noticed yet but it contains a pair of seastone cuffs which are disguised as rings that's wrapped around the sheath... one would think they're for decorative purposes only...and you only use it in dire situations so you leave that sword on the ground for now before moving to a battle stance, clutching your other sword. You let your body relax before inhaling a deep breath. Lowering your head, your eyes slide to a close as you shift your weight to your right leg and lean forwards with your left shoulder. You gently relax your katana on your right side as you grasp the hilt with your left hand whilst the other clutches the sheath. Ace emits a low whistle of appreciation at your interesting choice of stance.

Above and the sky is a dark grey and filled with clouds, raindrops falling over the both of you. The waves are not rough but the ship is gently bobbing up and down as lightning flashes in the distance. Ace readies himself for the upcoming match to the death; he doesn't wear armor nor does he wield any weapons. He's half naked and he stands before you, slowly shifting himself into a stance as he holds his arms out, palms up. There's a cocky smirk on his face which you're determined to wipe off. The adrenaline of battle runs through his veins, fueled by his burning passion and the raging fire that's contained in his body. You don't dare underestimate the power of your opponent and you don't wait for him to move first; the lightning flashes and you open your eyes in a split second - you pull the blade free from its sheath quickly and execute a clean and neat horizontal swipe, the sound of the sword cuts through the air; a bright projectile emits from the blade and travels furiously, hurtling towards him. Ace barely dodges from your attack and the light end ups smashing into a pile of barrels before desiccating a long portion of the ship’s railing; there’s nothing left except from shattered wood and Ace gawks at the damage you've dealt from one simple swipe of your sword before turning to you. Sure, Whitebeard's gonna get mad but whatever, this is a fight to the death.

"What was that?" 

"Ketsueki no Mikazuki." 

He pauses to soak it all in, then says, "Are you from Wano?"

"I thought we were fighting, not talking."

"Hm. You're right." He replies with a shrug. Ace's turn now - and he returns fire, literally - he begins shooting fire from his fingertips and he watches as you hold your katana in front of you, your fingers splayed around the hilt and you twirl your blade in a circle and catch the flames using the steel which you then gather together and fling back at his direction. Ace stands, welcoming the attack and the flames smash into him but he is unfazed; smoke wafts in the air as the flames lick at his shoulders.

You can tell he's fascinated and interested in your skills and daresay it, you're also intrigued by his powers too since the man is wielding the power of an element and he is literally made of fire and you wonder what else he's capable of. Your turn now; you promptly swing the blade forwards once more and another powerful slash emits from your katana and he counter attacks by sending another pillar of fire towards your direction. He expects the fire and light to promptly explode once it makes contact but he seems a little surprised to see that your light pushes the flames and shoots it back towards him; the flames slam into his body once more but otherwise he's unharmed and you take this opportunity to grab your other blade, pull it free from its sheath and leap high in the air before he has time to counterattack and you slam towards him with both blades crossed into an 'X' formation. He stays still for a moment but just as you are about to hit him, he leaps away in the span of a second and the floor splinters upon your impact of landing. Damn, you missed. He's fast, you'll give him that.

However, you're also quick to keep the offensive up, swinging one blade forwards and then the other but the attacks pass him as he uses his flames to protect himself and your attacks go through him like air. Damn Devil fruit powers... He hasn't even tried to remotely attack you... You don't feel like he's taking this fight seriously at all. Could this be merely a ploy in order to assess your strength, your powers, your skills? Ace dodges by using his flames to repel your attacks and as he lunges at you, you stand still, eyes closed, your fingers creep towards the hilt of your sword. You can sense he's about to attack and with the right timing, you open your eyes and unleash an uppercut and you slice at the air in a perfect arc and a large pile of wooden crates crumble into pieces from your deadly attack - but Ace has disappeared from your field of vision and you're left blinking with your sword held up high behind you, wondering how he could be so fast to dodge a move like that... but then there's a slight weight on your blade and you turn round to see him balancing on the steel with one foot and you growl as he grins. He leaps up, backflips away as you attempt to slice at him with your other sword and finding an opening, he gets right up close and personal to you, his face barely inches from yours and startled, you attempt to back away but instead he grabs your wrist and ducks from your swords; he twists you round and pulls you to his chest and suddenly, you're stuck in his hold and you can feel his lips near your ear and then -

"I told you to go talk to her, not pick a fight and destroy half the ship-yoi." A voice drawls in the distance and both Ace and yourself glance over to see Marco sidling over. Rolling one sleeve, he proceeds to smack the both of you over the top of the heads none too gently, effectively stopping your battle but Ace is still holding you so you hastily elbow him to get him to release you and you step away from him as he lets go. As you return your swords to their sheaths, Marco says, “Stop fooling around; Thatch needs help with the feast-yoi. And Oyaji says can you keep the noise down, you are being too loud."

"Sorry, Marco."

"Look what you did to the railing and the crates-yoi." 

You destroyed them but Ace is being blamed for it. "It wasn't him- "

"Yeah, look, I'm sorry." Ace quickly interrupts, "I'll fix it later. Let's go."

You look at Ace in stunned silence but he merely grins at you and regardless, Marco seems fine with the arrangement. "Alright then. Let's go-yoi. [Y/N], the nurses are looking for you."

Huh? They are looking for you? But why? You straighten your clothes and dust yourself down as Ace slings an arm around your shoulder and brings you close to him; you can really feel the warmth of his body now despite the cold weather and intense rain. "Get your arm off me." You hiss under your breath, but he ignores you and steers you towards the stairs that lead below deck whilst Marco trails after you both. "What about our fight?"

"What fight?" Ace says, to which you stare at him incredulously. When he smirks at you again, you merely sigh and shake your head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to get my laptop fixed so may not be able to update as frequently.
> 
> Thanks to those who are enjoying this story/kudos. Just a few notes:
> 
> 1\. Ok so I struggled with the action but reader's fighting style... Reader is meant to be a badass and tough and if she was a character in a video game, she'll be overpowered, a tank... and when her attacks hit, they hit hard and deal lots of damage...she wields two katanas and so far it's a mix of Lady Maria of the Astral Tower from Bloodborne and Vergil from DMC lol.  
> 2\. Also, originally reader was given 5 days, not 3, to stay on the Moby Dick and she has a lot more interaction with the Whitebeard crew. But I saw a lot of stories that is in this format so I decided to change it a little and shortened it  
> 3\. On an unrelated note, I really like writing Marco. He's so fun to write!


	5. ...Well, shit

**...WELL, SHIT**

...

...

You head to the nurse's office where they are apparently waiting for you for reasons unknown. Whilst Ace and Marco go to help set the tables and other preparations for tonight's 'grand feast', you open the door only to see that the entire nurse's office has been turned into a rather elaborate burlesque-themed dressing room and all the nurses are all dolled up and dressed in tiny tight dresses exposing legs and oodles of cleavage instead of their usual modest nurse wear. You immediately turn on your heel and take one step out but one of them grabs you by the arm and hauls you inside and shuts the door.

"Ma'am, whilst I swore an oath not to harm women nor children, I must inform you that I - " You start, only to be interrupted when the nurse starts to giggle.

"Oh, [Y/N], you're our special guest so we just want to make you look pretty."

"What."

"We just want to make you look presentable!" A nurse coos at you. There's too many of them; you don't know their names and you don't really want to get to know them better. "Let's get you out of that shirt!"

You had been wondering this for a while now: "Who does this shirt belong to exactly?"

"Our Second Division Commander, of course."

Urgh! Ace! You tear it off your body without further ado, distraught with the knowledge that you've been walking around and sleeping in Ace's shirt (and he probably knew the entire time) and you throw it to the nearby fireplace and the nurses giggle uncontrollably to each other. As you stand topless before them, you hear the door behind you opening -

"Hey, is [Y/N] here - " It's Ace; he pauses as soon as he catches an eyeful of the nurses and then there's you with your naked back to him and you cannot move as your blood literally turns to ice and he utters, "Sorry, I shoulda knocked."

"GET OUT!"

The nurses are screaming and Ace ducks from the various items being thrown at him and slams the door shut, narrowly evading a slimy IV drip feed pack which goes 'splat' over the door and slowly slides down to the ground, leaving a trail of goo in its wake; the nurses breathe a sigh of relief when they hear his footsteps pounding up the stairs but now their attention is on you. Everyone knows you're soulmates and you know what's on their mind - they hurriedly grab you and make you stand in front of a large mirror, give you a new pair of lingerie and pull a black dress over you. It's short as hell, barely covering your ass and it's so low cut at the front that the amount of cleavage it shows is astronomical. You really don't want to wear it but there's nothing else you can wear and the nurses aren't giving you anything else _to_ wear and you cannot walk out of this room stark naked. You threw a remorseful gaze to Ace's burning shirt. Damn, why the fuck did you throw it into the fire...

Thank goodness you still have your marine coat; you will grab it later. You are then made to sit down in front of the vanity table where one nurse pulls out the bobble that's keeping your hair up and starts brushing and combing your hair in all sorts of directions, tugging your head around and combing and combing until your hair is sleek and smooth and the others are applying makeup on your pasty face.

"Beautiful!" One of the nurses gush at you. She's really proud of her work but you look at your reflection worriedly. Your lashes are thick with mascara, your lips painted a cute red. Your hair is loose and they've brushed a section of your hair to the side to cover one eye.

"This is unnecessary." You grumble as you sit awkwardly in your seat. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because we want Ace to notice you tonight."

Hell, he notices you already without the garish makeup and clothes but before you can protest, you hear polite knocking on the door. "Everyone's ready-yoi." says a familiar, muffled voice.

"Thanks, Marco! We'll be there soon!" One of the nurses reply cheerfully.

"See ya." With that, Marco leaves.

"I'm not hungry anymore and I won't be joining." You say quickly, but the nurses grab you and start to escort you out of the room. You don't want to hurt them - you don't hurt civilians after all, even if they're affiliated with pirates. "Where do I carry my weapons?" You ask.

"It's a feast, you don't need weapons!" A nurse exclaims in exasperation.

"I can't fight in this dress." Your comment makes them groan, frustrated.

"There won't be any fighting! It's a _feast_!"

"I'd still like my weapons, please."

Without further ado, your swords are dumped in your arms and you clam up, feeling a little better knowing that you can take your swords with you and you fasten them to your belt which completely clashes with your outfit. The nurses escort you to the main dining area which is now buzzing with chatter and excitement. The moment the nurses enter and the males whoop and cheer; the nurses seem to take great pride in this whilst you cringe slightly. You can also feel eyes on you... the attention that has come from nowhere terrifies you and is making you extremely self-conscious and uncomfortable. You find a familiar face in the crowd when you spot Ace who is beside Marco and they are already drinking but when your gazes meet, Ace starts to choke the moment he sees you and your cheeks turn red with embarrassment as he spits and coughs; you are seated beside the rest of the nurses and once he's finished spluttering, he keeps his hat low, his head turned away. Holy shit! He can't even look at you in the eye!

The feast begins and Thatch and the rest of his kitchen staff waltz in and everyone starts to cheer, the atmosphere is buzzing as plenty of dishes are settled down, covering the entire table (and it's a really large table) and there's so much exquisite looking food laid for your taking that there is no virtually room for the plates and cutlery; it takes a while for all the food to be served and when Thatch and his team finishes, Whitebeard thanks them and they return to the kitchen briefly. Everyone is seated, rum is poured into flasks and Thatch re-emerges from the kitchen and takes his seat beside Ace and Marco. Now that everyone has arrived, the entire room falls silent. Whitebeard is at the very end with two nurses at his side and he takes up most of the space due to his huge size. He stands up to makes a short toast and you realise they're possibly celebrating nothing in general after all, they just like to eat as much as they can in boisterous, exaggerated fashion and everyone raises their barrel mug.

"My son's bounty has increased; truly a marvelous feat." Whitebeard says, and you realise he's drunk already as he slurs out, "...And he's met his soulmate. Now let's kanpai, I ain't got much to say and I'm starvin'." Whitebeard raises his gourd high in the air and the rest of the crew follow his actions.

"KANPAI!" Everyone (except you) bellows, and suddenly -

_Splat!_

Everyone glances over to Ace's direction - he is face-down on his plate, spaghetti all over his front and hat and hair, his mug still raised in his hand. A loud, rumbling snore emits from the back of his throat and the entire dining room shakes with raucous laughter. No-one bothers to wake him up this time; the feast begins despite the fact that Ace is fast asleep. You stare at him incredulously but the nurses goad you to start eating. At the other end of the table opposite of Whitebeard, a man moves to stand. It's the one who dresses in a kimono and he has two pirates seated beside him who are also dressed in kimonos, holding shamisens. The room grows dark and three individual spotlights shine on the trio. The two musicians start playing the shamisens and the samurai is beginning to sing:

" _Yāren sōran sōran...Sōran sōran sōran...Nishin kita ka to kamome ni toeba, Watasha tatsu tori nami ni kike choi_..."

There's some cheering and applause and as the music continues, you guess he is tonight's source of entertainment; regardless, everyone begins to eat. One of the nurses goes to assist Ace who's still asleep. She lifts him out of the spaghetti and cleans his face and hair with a napkin and leaves him face-down over the table, snoring away. Sighing inwardly, you are not sure if you should eat but everyone is eating from the same dishes so you pile some food onto your empty plate, give it an inauspicious sniff...and when you deem it safe, you start silently eating your own meal. The food here is definitely better than what you're served at the academy. Thatch and his team are really good cooks...you find yourself enjoying the food much more than you wanted, even though you hated to admit it. On the other hand, you're not much of a drinker so when a lot of rum is emptied into your mug, you're not sure whether to drink it or not. Glancing at the nurses, they're downing the booze like water and so is everyone else at this table so you lift up the mug to your lips and take a few sips. It burns the back of your throat but otherwise, it's also good. However, a few sips in and your head is swimming. It's hit you faster and a lot quicker than you discovered.

Fresh air is solely needed for the room has become stuffy and hot and not to mention, it's filled with a hundred sweaty men, so you clumsily slip off your seat. Alcohol thrumming in your veins, you make your way to the dark corridor that will lead to the main deck where it's nice and quiet and you're about to go up the stairs when someone grabs you by the wrist and pulls you into the darkness away from prying eyes. He wraps you up in his arms and you feel his nose pressing into your hair, inhaling your scent whilst he crushes you into his warm chest, his sturdy arms tightening around you. When you look up, you see it is none other than Ace.

"Oh, it's you…" You drawl; you raise your hand, pressing a finger to his bottom lip before you slide your finger down and to the tassel of his hat, fingering the skull medallion. He doesn't let go of you; his large hands are resting on your waist and he gives you an affectionate squeeze. You tug on the strings playfully before he takes your hand in his and presses a gentle kiss over your knuckles. His lips are soft and warm. You don't recall seeing him wake up or leave his seat earlier, or maybe you had stopped noticing him in general. The booze is certainly making you less aware of your surroundings and also keeping your inhibitions at bay. Ace proceeds to lean in to you, his hands settling on your waist again, drawing you close to him until your faces are inches from each other.

"Mm...your skirt's so short...what're you trying to do to me..." He murmurs in your ear, sliding his hands up and down your curves, feeling the material of your dress. Hs hands feel good on your body...

"The nurses made me wear it...What do you want?"

"You." His voice is low and husky, barely above a whisper. You can tell he is drunk and he smells of smoke and beer. You chuckle lightly under your breath as he tightens his hold on you, your foreheads bumping together as he starts to nuzzle you affectionately. "I really want you…" He mutters, brushing his lips against your eyelids, your cheeks, your temples... your noses are almost touching but when Ace leans in, before your lips can meet, you yank the medallion and his hat falls over his face and you give him a light, teasing push. You quickly untangle yourself from his arms and proceed to brush past him but Ace grabs the hat and moves it away and over his shoulders. He follows after you, grabbing your arm and pulling you into his chest before his lips press ardently against yours.

Whoa. What the hell...what is this. Your eyes grow wide; you feel the alcohol is responsible for this because you don't know what's bringing this about and also...usually he's not bold like this... but his mouth is so hot and needy on yours, your lips moulding perfectly and he succeeds in dragging a moan from the back of your throat. When you pull away, his gaze is locked on your parted lips before he flicks his eyes to you. He wants you. He wants you badly, and you're not pushing him away. Your heart is beginning to hammer against your ribs frantically, your face hot, your legs going a tad weak in the knees. Ace leaves no time for you to have second thoughts; he pulls you flush up against him, arm around your waist and hand under your chin to bring you into another kiss, and against your better judgement, you end up slipping your arms around the back of his neck and weave your fingers into his hair, threading through his black tresses as you respond, moving one hand to cup his jaw. He is kissing you passionately, lips meeting yours again and again hungrily. You part your lips slightly for breath and he follows, kissing the corner of your mouth whilst his arms return to your waist so he can clutch you firmly to him, his arms wrapped around you so tightly you almost can't breathe.

His body is hot but you feel it's growing even hotter and you start running your hands down his bare shoulders and you feel him shuddering, as though your touch is sending tremors down his spine; you move your hands over his sturdy biceps which are tensing under your fingers and finally, you reach his hands. He tries to weave his fingers with yours, brushing his thumb over the back of your hand and you discover his hands are really callous and rough as he tries to entwine your fingers together - however, you suddenly retreat...your fingers reaching your sword... grabbing the seastone cuffs...and you pull away and in one quick motion, there's a loud 'snap!' and Ace's wrist is caught in one of the handcuffs whilst the other cuff is attached firmly around the railing of the stairs.

He glances at his wrist then looks at you in confusion. "[Y/N]." He says, now he's not sounding so drunk.

You pull away from his grip and take a step back. "You didn't see that coming?" You murmur as you turn away. Expecting to see him growl or curse at you, you're surprised to see him chuckling under his breath.

Now it's time to get the fuck off this ship.

Everyone is drunk as hell. It's the perfect opportunity. Above deck, you hastily return to your room and get rid of the dress, pulling on your normal clothes and your marine coat and re-emerge from the room; you crouch behind a large barrel to wait for the night patrol to pass so you can sneak past them effortlessly and head to the other side of the ship where the boat is; however, when you notice no-one comes round, you peer out from your spot. Hm. Strange. Did they abandon their post...? No way. Something's up... you leave your hiding place and grab the bag of food you'd hidden in the barrel, knowing all too well that you're better off escaping immediately than hanging around here any second longer; the seastone handcuffs will not hold Ace for long and also who's to say he won't get the rest of the Whitebeard's attention? So far, however, you're surprised that your disappearance goes unannounced...

You stuff your coat into the bag and you're about to reach the boat when you see two figures ahead; it's the night patrol - two pirates from an unknown division but they're lying on the floor and you thought they were drunk but upon closer inspection, it's quite clear they've been attacked. This doesn't bode well. Who would dare to attack one of Whitebeard's crew (aside from you, that is...). As you inspect their injuries, a shadow appears on the deck above you and its approaching really quickly - you look up just in time as a sword comes slashing at your direction which you evade by executing a backflip and as you land on your feet, you pull your katana out.

"Who are you?" You demand, but there's no reply, only this malicious, sick grin that spreads over the man's face. It's a pirate who you don't recognise - it can't possibly be one of Whitebeard's men at this rate - and he starts his full-on assault at you. You duck and avoid each attack that comes your way, blocking his sword with yours and you aim a kick at his chest which sends him over a railing and into the water. He's not alone, however, as another shadow approaches you from behind but it completely towers over you and as you turn - your eyes widen when you see a gargantuan arm coming your direction -

You hold up your katanas to defend yourself but the fist slams into you anyway and you fly to the side, landing on the ground with a loud 'thump'. Before you black out, you see him approaching you and as the man grins wickedly, you see that his teeth is gold and silver against the moonlight.

...

The excruciating pain in your hand brings you out of unconsciousness and you open your eyes; you're in a brightly lit prison cell and Brutus is standing before you; he's sporting a brand spanking new eyepatch and bloodied bandages draped across his hairy chest. He's fixing a pair of shackles and chains on your wrists, your arms pulled high above your head and your feet dangling off the floor. Your ankles are also bound by shackles which are extremely heavy. Glancing up, you see a large metal nail sticking out of your left palm and blood is running down the length of your arm. As the room sways, you note you are also most likely on his ship. Outside your prison cell and you spot your katanas lying on a table.

"Well, well, well...look who's decided to wake up." Brutus sneers at you. As you wonder how you will escape from this one, he grabs your chin and forces you out of your thoughts as he makes you look at him. You glare at him before he abruptly lets go of you to slap you hard across the cheek. Your face stinging, you merely grunt and emit a hiss but return to glare at him. "At first, I considered an eye for an eye, but this is even better." He adds, holding up a long metal nail. Most likely, it's for your other hand.

"Let me go." 

"Ohhohoohee, I'll let you go...if you become my woman." Brutus coos, "After all, we were gonna be married." He traces your bottom lip with his disgusting, gnarly thumb. However, the moment he had touched you, you knew you were going to make him regret it... and in a split second, you snap your head back and stab your teeth over the palm of his hand, causing him to yowl in pain.

"Bitch!" He hisses, but you don't let go; instead, you clamp your teeth down harder and as he tries to pull his hand back, you can hear the sound of wet squelching and you had ripped the skin clean off his knuckles. Spitting it out, the shredded skin flops over the cold floor of the prison, your mouth is covered entirely in blood. "You fucking bitch!" He cradles his bleeding hand before slapping you hard with his intact hand; the blow is so harsh you fall unconscious again.

...

_"Forty two....forty three...forty four..."_

_It's a nice night; not too cold and not too hot. You've just finished a whole day of brutal training with Momonga but you don't feel tired at all and you wish to continue. So here you are, doing push ups in the yard; it's empty and there's no-one around because it's dark. The others are either eating dinner or relaxing in the dorms, but you found yourself bored and unwilling to be committed to stay in the quarters doing nothing so you decided you would spend the remaining time of the day training strenuously, pushing your body to the limit until -_

_"Hey. Whatcha doing?"_

_You pause, glancing over to see a tall, skinny girl with a tiny waist and large bust, her dark hair trailing to her thighs. She's wearing an unzipped hoodie over a white sports bra with the word "MARINE" stamped over it in black, white and blue. It's not raining but she's pulled the hood up, and she's donned in tiny white shorts that exposes her long legs. It's Curie, a close friend, who is eating an ice cream and carrying a bag of snacks in the other hand. Lucky her. She can eat as much junk food as she wants and there won't be any flab, unlike you. If you eat but one chip or cookie and you'll find yourself with a double chin the next morning._

_"I'm training." You reply._

_She props the bag of snacks on the bench beside you and sits down. "I didn't see you at dinner tonight. That guy was looking for you...er...I forgot his name, sorry."_

_"Not interested."_

_Curie giggles, "Saving yourself for Ace?"_

_"No." You're quick to quip back with a frown, "I'm not interested and I don't have the time."_

_"Riiiiight."_

_"I'm serious."_

_"But you're not dating, you've not even had your first kiss yet, you've never even held hands with a boy, and you've never hugged or flirted with anyone - you're definitely saving yourself for Ace. I think you should go look for him. We're on summer break, after all. You could just grab a boat and go sailing."_

_"Can't, I'm training to become Captain."_

_"Aw, come on! You don't have to be scared! Trust me! If you want, I'll come with you! I'm a great navigator!"_

_"Like hell I'm scared!" You bark. "And I'm not gonna go actively looking for him. I mean, how can two people be destined to be together since birth, just because of a stupid name that appears somewhere on your body? What if he's nothing like I imagined? And what if he doesn't like me if we do meet? What then?"_

_Curie purses her lips but then grins. "What do you think he'll look like?"_

_"...I'm not sure. Maybe short, a bit hairy...beardy?"_

_"What about personality?"_

_"I don't know. Maybe...nice and caring, and kind. I hope he has a big heart."_

_Curie is grinning widely now and she throws her arms up in the air. "[Y/N]!!! YOU ARE JUST TOO CUTE! God! Why are you still here?! You should totally go find him!"_

_Deciding to change the topic, you say, "Hey, what happened to that blond guy who showed up the other day?"_

_She rolls her eyes and rubs her nose in disdain, "Urgh. Him. Out of all the things I don't remember, I remember him. He just won't leave me alone. I can't get rid of him. He's like that stupid skunk from that show I used to watch when I was a kid. I can't remember it's name but it reminds me of him and I - "_

_"CURIE-SWWWAAAN!"_

_You both leap, with Curie's heart practically jumping out of her throat, her eyes wide as plates as the blond man you mentioned has suddenly popped up behind her in the bushes, leaves and twigs in his hair. "ARRGHHHH! WHERE'D YOU COME FROM?!" Curie screams._

_"I've always been here, my cute and beautiful Curie-chwan!"_

_"This is private property! You're trespassing!"_

_"I don't care, Curie-chan, as long as I get to see you!" He proceeds to shower her with love hearts, puckering his lips as he throws his arms out, trying to grab her._

_"GET LOST!" Aiming a kick to his face, she leaps away and starts running towards the direction of the dormitories._

_"Curie-chan! CURIE-CHAAAAAN! Come back, my sweet dove!" Without a moment to spare, he starts chasing after her._

_"Nyaaah! Get away from me!"_

_You watch as the blond goes after your friend, sighing. You're alone in the yard again so you resume in your push ups. It's then you take a quick glimpse at your arm where you've tied a little cloth over the name of your soulmate. When you're finally done with fifty push ups, you flop over the tarmac in exhaustion. Glancing up at the night sky where the stars are bright and the moon is full, you wonder what Gol D. Ace looks like, who he is, and where he may be._

...

"[Y/N]."

You're awoken a second time by a familiar voice and someone's warms hands on your cheeks and also, your palms are stinging with pain. Opening your eyes, you see Ace's face inches from yours. You groan and blink sluggishly. "...Ace...?" You mutter out deliriously. 

"Yep, it's me." He murmurs; as he holds your bruised face in his hands, he rubs his thumb over the ugly marks on your cheeks; compared to Brutus, he's so gentle with you and he is really...kind. Remembering your dream of a memory long past, seeing Ace here brings a sense of comfort to you...

"What are you doing here?"

"I saw them take you so I followed."

"What about Whitebeard? Marco?"

"It's just me; I came on my own."

"Do you have any idea what you're doing?"

"Sure I do. I'm saving you." Letting go of your cheeks, he grabs the nail that's holding your right hand in place and turns to you. "This might hurt."

Summoning flames to his hands, you feel the metal growing hot and you wince as he melts the majority of it off and slowly pulls it out of your palm. He does the same to the left nail that's now embedded in your hand and then he moves onto your shackles; the steel completely melts away under Ace's flames and you're about to drop to the floor but Ace catches you, his arms wrapping around your waist and your newly freed hands are too sore to grab onto anything but he props you up to lean on his wide shoulders. He gives you a squeeze and you undoubtedly know that you're safe and it's the most wondrous feeling in the world.

"Are you okay?" He asks, with his nose buried in your hair.

"No." You mumble, and he gives you another affectionate squeeze.

"Everything's gonna be alright. I'm here now. Sorry I'm late." As Ace holds you tightly in his arms, he starts inspecting you briefly, starting with your hands first which he holds gently. He looks at your bloodied, trembling palms and he's frowning deeply; you can tell he's seething with rage. Averting your glance to the side, you see that he's brought your katanas much to your joy so he helps you fasten them to your belt and you emit a quiet sigh of relief whilst he starts to melt off the shackles around your ankles and as you look at him, he grins.

After everything you did to him...he still came for you...

Once he's finished burning the chains off, he eases you to sit on the floor and plops his hand over your head after noticing your gloomy expression, ruffling your hair. "Let's get outta - " He promptly stops in his sentence, leaning forwards, eyes sliding to a close and his face lands right in your cleavage.

Your expression scrunches up in disbelief immediately. "Ace!!!! Are you serious?! Falling asleep at a time like this..." You try to get him off you, shaking him. "Wake up!"

And it's just then that the doors to the prison open and Brutus is standing there.

...Well, shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel I might edit this chapter later. Not sure if the dream sequence/flashback ruined the narrative but eh. Also not sure if the kiss happened too quick but meh. I also decided on a cameo from Sanji because I love that dude so much lol. I really wanted to make him more outrageous but maybe later haha.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	6. One of Us Has to Know How to Swim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, thank you for the kudos and comment. I have another exciting update. Get ready for some awesome bonding time with Ace lol. This is a pretty long chapter compared to the others and there's more paragraphs, and I often want to write in Ace's POV to mix things up. Also it's pretty interesting to write from his POV. Forgot to mention that this takes place a way before Thatch gets killed in the canon, so Ace is probably 18-19 years old here.
> 
> Anyway, I don't think I will be updating until after Christmas because I have a lot of things to do - moving house for example. If I don't update however, I hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas and best wishes for 2019 (...wow...it's almost 2019..can you believe it?!!)

**ONE OF US HAS TO KNOW HOW TO SWIM**

...

...

A storm brews outside as Brutus advances towards you; you can hear thunder and lightning as the ship begins to rock violently to and fro and you flick your glance to Ace; no use, he's still asleep despite the circumstances and doesn't seem intent on waking up at this moment. Just as Brutus lunges at you, you evade by throwing yourself to the side and whipping out your katana, at first you're wincing from the crippling pain of forcing your palm to close around the hilt and you're almost completely incapacitated but you force yourself to continue, your bloodied fingers clenching around the smooth fabric of the tsuka. Meanwhile, Brutus wields a giant chain and sickle which he throws at your direction; you duck in time at it goes hurtling towards you and the sickle goes slamming against the wall. With a roar, he pulls on the chain and proceeds to send it flying towards your direction. You whack it away from you with your katana but then the chain continues to come towards you and you have no choice but to knock that away too - however, to your surprise, Brutus charges at you again and he aims a deadly strike - the large sickle blade is inches from your face. You have no choice but to quickly pull out your other katana and raise them up in defense, crossing both your blades to stop his attack, struggling as he begins to overpower you. Pain erupts in your hands and you stab your teeth into your bottom lip to blot it out.

"Ace!" You yell, but Fire Fist merely rubs at his nose and snorts as he rolls over to one side, rubbing at his stomach. Oh god! Seriously, this guy...!

Pushing Brutus off with all your might, you raise both blades and bring them down to slash at his front as he stumbles back and he cries out when the tips of your blades carve a massive cross into his chest. You were actually aiming to dish out more damage but the ship had rocked violently; on the plus side, Brutus is so huge he's an easy target, slow to boot as well so attacking him will hopefully not be so difficult.

"Ace, wake up!" You try again, but he's still in deep sleep.

Observing how your attention is focused on Ace, a smirk appears on Brutus' face as he dismisses the flesh wound and throws his sickle at Ace's direction. Your eyes widen; without a second thought, you shield the man who is blissfully asleep and block the attack using your katana although this places you in Brutus' range and he uses this opportunity to kick you in one hand and you let out a hiss as you accidentally drop your katana and it clatters to the ground. Gritting your teeth, you counterattack by kicking him in the knee and as he doubles over, he still attempts to swing his arm carelessly at you but the ship rocks to the side and its in your favor - you evade in time by sliding underneath his arm and punch him as hard as you can in his side, ignoring the sweltering pain that follows and builds up in your palm. A choked gasp exits his mouth and although there's sweat dotting your forehead and the pain in your hands beyond imagination, you punch him again with your other clenched fist before swinging your body round, delivering a spinning hook kick to his chest. He bounds backwards and when he recoils thanks to the ship, you twist your body round and kick him with your other leg. Garbled noises emits from his mouth as he stumbles; taking this moment where he is stunned, you take a few running steps and leap - you deliver a powerful and hefty dropkick to his face. You kick him so hard he goes sailing backwards and into the wall, dropping to the floor. Brutus glances up at you; he seems really alarmed by your strength.

"You're…" He breathes out, "What are you...?"

"Shut up." You snarl at him. Turning to Ace, you return to his side to shake him as hard as you can. "Wake up!"

Brutus shakes off your attack and comes charging again; you let go of Ace to guard yourself - you have to continuously fend off his attacks which are constantly aimed at Ace. You can see Brutus' smirk widening and know he's having fun with this because you're more wide open to attacks. You stand over Ace protectively with only one blade in hand as Brutus throws his chain towards your direction as you predict. Catching his chain with the length of your sword, you leap behind him and onto his back, wrapping your legs around his neck. With the chain in your hand, you tug it backwards as it catches him by the neck near your legs and you pull as hard as you can, trying to get him to move away from Ace. Brutus starts to splutter as he tries to shake you off but you only tighten your death grip in response.

"B…bitch…!" He manages to breathe out, before he makes a grab for you in an effort to get you off his back. You pull on the chain even harder and he roars with blind fury; you hold on with all your might as he charges around the cell, slamming himself against the walls as a futile attempt. You only hold on tighter but when he finally grabs you, he pulls you off and slams you to the ground. Your back bears the brunt and you're seeing stars briefly. He raises his sickle high in the air over the sleeping Ace and as you force yourself to get up, your head spinning...in your desperation, you throw yourself over your soulmate to shield him with your body and the sickle stabs into your back, digging into your flesh and you cry out.

Finally, Ace jerks awake, his eyes springing open and he stares up at you as you lay on top of him, blood starts leaking out from the corner of your mouth. "[Y/N]?!"

"...About...damn time..." You hiss, as Brutus yanks the sickle out of you, the smooth, rounded blade is coated in your fresh blood.

Ace scrabbles out from underneath you, holding you in his arms. You can no longer move, thoroughly exhausted and sore all over. His eyes are wide, ablaze with fury at the sight of your injuries. Turning to Brutus, his expression is murderous. 

"I'll kill the both of you!" Brutus roars; he lets out an almighty yell as he charges forwards for another attack; however, Ace lifts his hands up, crossing his fingers.

" _JUUJIKA!!!_ "

Brutus screams as a massive barrage of deadly flames engulf him completely; he stops in his tracks, screeching horrifically in pain and flinging his arms around wildly as he is being burned alive and in minutes, he's wriggling and flailing as he drops to his knees and flops over the ground, charred and burnt. The flames eat at his body, tearing away at his skin. Brutus' screams echo within the prison cell, and although you're used to witnessing grisly deaths, you've never seen anything like this before. Throwing your glance at Ace, his gray eyes are filled with anger as he returns to clutch you firmly to him. It's a side to Ace you haven't seen before at all.... When Brutus is silent, the prison cell is covered in flames and there's the unmistakeable stench of burnt flesh. Ace proceeds to bundle you up into his arms. 

"I'm sorry." He mutters as he brushes some loose strands of hair from your face. "I'm so sorry, [Y/N]."

"It's okay." You reassure him, but he utters a string of apologies so you give his hand a squeeze and he slides his limp gaze to yours. He looks positively miserable. "Ace, it's okay. Let's just get out of here."

Ace nods as he holds you close and he rises to stand; he helps you gather your katanas and you click their locks into place to prevent them from falling off. He kicks open the door that leads to the main deck where you are both greeted with Brutus' crew trying to regain control of the ship amidst the storm. They pay no heed to the both of you at all, trying to steer the ship properly but to no avail. "Breach in the hull! Breach in the hull!" Someone cries loudly over the torrential downpour. You and Ace glance at each other before Ace proceeds to rush to the side of the boat with you in his arms, completely unseen. Above you, the sky is dark and is lit up by the occasional flash of lightning and rumble of thunder. He stops to glance over the side of the ship but then curses under his breath.

"What is it?" You croak out.

"Damn. Striker's missing. Guess we'll just have to borrow one of theirs." Ace mutters as he carries you over to the extra boats which are attached to the side of the ship. Ace gently lays you into one of the boats first before climbing inside himself. "Are you okay?"

You can only grunt, hissing in pain as you clutch at your bleeding shoulder. You've been crucified and stabbed, and you were fighting Brutus to the death. So no, you are not okay as you're using a lot of energy and willpower to keep yourself conscious. However, you still respond with a reassuring nod. At this moment, you cannot let Ace see how much agony you truly are in or else he'll get even worried and remorseful that he fell asleep in a crucial situation. Ace hurriedly burns the ropes that are holding the boat and once he's finished, the boat jerks before it completely drops, splashing over the water. Immediately, your tiny boat is being swept away by the violent waves and you cling on for dear life, the waves are huge and relentless and the boat rocks uncontrollably.

"Ace, this is a bad idea!" You yell over the thunder and lightning. Not to mention, Ace's a devil fruit user which means he can't swim. 

"Nah, we'll be fine!" He shouts in response, grinning.

"Ace!!!! I'm serious!"

"Yeah, so am I!!"

The boat rocks violently to the side and back and Brutus' ship is slowly moving further and further away from you, the waves carrying you and pulling you to all sorts of random directions. You can't control the boat; Ace's conveniently picked one that doesn't have any oars (not that you're aware if oars will help you in this precise moment...). Seawater crashes into the boat and you gasp as the water splashes over your face, you're left shivering and wheezing at the iciness that takes hold of your body. Ace climbs over to you to hold you tightly in his arms; his innate warmth is a godsend right now as you welcome the comfortable heat that proceeds to spread throughout your body. His hand is on your back too; he pulls away to see that its covered entirely in blood. 

"[Y/N] - " He starts, only for a wave of water to crash over the both of you again. You wipe water from your eyes, glancing up at the sky to see another enormous wave heading towards your direction.

"Ace, look out!" You yell, as the wave comes crashing over your boat and the poor boat flips over; you have left Ace's embrace and suddenly you're in the freezing water being flung around in all sorts of directions, bubbles strewing everywhere, you can see nothing but the depths of the deep, murky water and the dark sky above, blurred lightning flashing above you. Helpless, the waves comes crashing over you again and again, throwing your body around in the water like a ragdoll. When you finally resurface, you shake yourself free of water and inhale noisily for air, glancing around. "ACE!?" There is no sign of him or the boat. Your eyes darting left and right, you search for him desperately. "Ace, where are you?!"

You're silenced by another overwhelming wave rolling and collapsing over you and you follow the current, being dragged to and fro underneath the water. It's then you see Ace's unmoving form, his eyes closed. He's floating limply. You try to swim towards him, reaching for him. He's clearly unconscious. He can't swim, goddamnit, he'll fucking drown! Before you reach him, however, another wave tears you away from him and you and Ace become further and further apart. You swim towards him with all your strength, your back and hands hurting the entire time as you push through. Your arm outstretched, you're about to reach him but then Ace is taken away from you when you see a dark figure emerge from the depths of the ocean, snatching him in its arms; he is grabbed and this figure...this creature... turns to you and it’s then you see the beautiful pale face and the long flowing locks of hair... it’s a mermaid, and with a flick of her tail, she swims off with Ace.

Another wave pushes you away, sending you spiralling deep in the ocean, into the darkness.

You are alone.

...

Ace wakes up on a sandy shore, coughing and spluttering out a mixture of seawater and sand. His lungs hurt, his body aches and he scrubs a palm over his face, groaning. He's lying on his back spread-eagle and he finds the sun is very harsh on his skin. Opening one eye, he slowly moves to sit up, rubbing the back of his neck. His back hurts, his arms stiff and rigid, and his legs are like jelly. This is what water does to him, does to his muscles and the rest of his body... although it could really do a lot worse so he considers himself lucky. He lets himself adjust to the heat and waits for himself to dry off completely, exhaling loudly. The ocean is in the horizon yet there is no sight of any island or ship. Nothing. Glancing around his left and right, he sees his hat half-buried in the sand so he scoops it up, rubs some dirt and grime from the smiley and sad faces, shakes and pats the floppy brim free of little granules and leaves it hanging over his back. His beads are lying over a rock which he collects and drapes over his neck. To his relief, his dagger is still attached to his belt and he's still in his shorts and boots. He is relatively surprised to find that he hadn't woken up naked as it did happen to him before. Let's just say a lot of rum was involved.

And then there’s something wriggling in his wet, left boot. He quickly pulls it off and turns it upside down and a fish comes flopping out along with some seaweed and a stream of seawater. As the current laps at his ankles, it carries the fish away but it still turns round to give him a dirty look to which Ace can do nothing else but shrug. With all his gear, Ace continues to look around where he spies a forest behind him and then there's the sandy beach he's lying on and there's a few palm trees scattered around, a few seagulls pecking at an unmoving figure - wait a minute, hmm, that looks a lot like -

"[Y/N]!" Ace scrabbles up immediately upon seeing his soulmate lying face-down a distance away from him and being hassled by the seabirds. Although he's a bit numb, he forces himself to move, kicking at sand as he makes his way over to her. She's not far from him at all, lying on her front with arms and legs splayed out and definitely resembling a cadaver... Ace shoos away the birds and they fly off squawking as he gathers her in his arms and lifts her up, her head resting on the crook of his elbow. He brushes sand off her face and some strand of damp hair away, cupping her chin with his hand. He lifts her face but she is unmoving and a pat on the cheek doesn't work. Ace gulps, eyes raking in her long lashes, the softness of her lips and her cheeks... just looking at her face is enough to render him weak. Pushing those thoughts away, he places his ear against her chest and he can feel the dull thud of her heartbeat and she is still breathing, much to his relief. Her eyes are closed however, and she's unresponsive when he shakes her gently. "[Y/N], wake up."

There is still no response so he uses this opportunity to inspect her carefully. To his surprise, her katanas are still connected to her belt, intact. He sees her palms have stopped bleeding but there are holes where she was nailed to the wall. If he doesn't patch those wounds up soon, it might get infected... Her fingers are long and rough, probably from years of training with blades. He checks her back next where she was stabbed and peels away the cloth of her shirt which is sticking to her skin, revealing a deep and grotesque wound. Yeesh, it's enough to send people running for the hills... He averts attention from her wounds and to her clothes which are undoubtedly ruined by her blood and her torn flesh. It's a miracle she is still alive... Ace eases her gently over the sand but ensures her wounds don't touch the ground so he drags one rock over, gently makes her lay over it to keep her raised off the ground. Her body is limp anyway and it doesn't seem like she will wake up anytime soon. At the same time, he notices her top is hanging low and he can see the line of her cleavage. Focusing on important matters at hands, he proceeds to remove her marine coat, put it to the side and grab the rim of her top and lift it up over her belly. He inches it bit by bit with great meticulous care, exposing the smooth flat of her stomach first and her navel.... The moment he reaches her breasts however, that's a completely different story. He quickly pauses to look away. A few seconds pass and all that can be heard are the gulls crying in the background; Ace sneaks a quick peek - her breasts are...large, and its lace and black.... Her bra, that is. He scratches his chin as he glimpses again very briefly and swallows down. What is her size anyway? Pretty big...

He mentally reminds himself again that he's got a task at hand. "Sorry, [Y/N]." He mutters under his breath, knowing all too well that if she was awake she'd no doubt skewer him with her katanas if she knew what he was doing to her right now. He proceeds to ease the shirt off her and places it to the side. Next, he glances at her shorts which are damp to the core, the material sticking to her legs. If she stays in them, she might catch a cold or something. Therefore... it's off with the shorts.

Reaching for the waistband, he starts to wedge them down her hips little by little. It's amazing and also a little worrying that she hasn't woken up yet. Ace slides her shorts down where he is greeted with the thin band of her panties at her hipbones and his face feels hot all over again at the unintended strip tease. Holy hell, she's wearing matching panties.... He looks away again in all due respect as he carefully and slowly pulls her shorts down and down until they get caught in her ankles where he has to grab her ankles to actively tug the flimsy shorts off. Geez, her legs are long... With shorts in hands, Ace gingerly places them beside her coat.

There. All done.

Ace ponders to himself:  _Now that wasn't so hard_ , yet his face is hot and now he has virtually nude [Y/N] in front of him. Well...almost. Ace folds her damp clothes, gathers her coat and glances around again before scooping her into his arms. He carries her over to a larger rock and lays her down. It's not the best choice but he doesn't have much choice in the first instance. Further, she hasn't woken up at all. Although reluctant to leave her like this, he decides it's best to scout the area they're in and to find some supplies he can use.

 _Can't leave her like this though_ , he thinks. There's a downed palm tree conveniently nearby and Ace uses the wood from the trunk to create a fire; he ignites one finger and shoots a flame over the scraps. Not bad. Very handy indeed, if he does think so himself. Oh, it occurs to him she might also wake up hungry; Ace proceeds to return to the ocean and let the waves lick at his feet. He wades further in until the water is up to his ankles, then his calves, his knees, and then his waist. Summoning heat to his body, the water around him immediately starts bubbling and there's smoke wafting from the surface - he glances around with a grin when a few fish immediately float to the surface, dead, including the one he's just freed from his boot, oops. Ace collects the fish - and they're plump, fat fish, good for eating and full of nutrients - and returns to the little camp he had set up and impales them onto long sticks, stabbing them into the sand near the fire to roast. Then he uses large palm leaves from the fallen tree and fashions a bed for her so she's more comfortable. He moves her over to one side and proceeds to lay the ground with the leaves before lifting her back into his arms and laying her over the leaf pile he'd just created. Her clothes are not forgotten either - he lets them dry over some rocks near the fire.

Crouching in front of her, he plops his large hand over her head, ruffling her hair. "I'll be back soon, okay?"

.....

_Am I dead?_

If you are, you thought you'd see your mother. But no, you are somewhere warm and at the moment, you are completely at peace, at ease. It's a pleasant sensation. You're aware that you're lying on your side and there's a sturdy arm draped around your waist securely, just under your breasts. Your back is pressed against a lean but hard chest and you can feel them breathing, the steady rise and fall of their chest with each inhale and exhale. Opening your eyes groggily, you tilt your head slightly to see that it's day and the sun is high above you from the corner of your eye. The annoying cry of gulls assaults your ears, combined with the tranquil echo of gentle, lulling of waves crashing nearby. Minus the sea birds, it's surprisingly soothing. Overall, the temperature is warm but not hot enough to wring sweat from you. The surface you're lying on is hard but otherwise, it is somewhat comfortable. A pile of large, luscious green palm tree leaves have been strategically laid out to provide some form of cushiony comfort. You're lying on some kind of makeshift bed... Sighing, you let your eyes slide to a close and shuffle slightly as you attempt to make yourself more comfortable once more and the arm on your waist responds, giving you an affectionate squeeze whilst warm fingers caresses your side gently and a hand tenderly brushes some hair from your face. 

"[Y/N]...?" A familiar voice murmurs in your ear. 

"...Mm, what is it, Ace..." You snuggle into the large and warm palm that's settled on your cheek. The fingers feel nice on your skin...

Wait a minute...

Ace?

Your eyes snap open in a split second and you attempt to turn round only for your forehead to slam into his chin and then an intense, excruciating pain makes its presence known in your shoulder; you're biting down hard on your bottom lip as you're wracked with pain. "Ow, ow, ow..." You croak, wincing.

"Whoa, take it easy...." Ace has been spooning you from behind the entire time and his face is close to yours; you can feel his warm breath biting at your cheeks. Your hands are shaking; it hurts... your shoulder hurts... you're exhausted and sore all over, but when you see Ace, all that doesn't seem to matter anymore.

He's alive. _Alive_. You could not believe it would ever happen to you, but you have never been so damned relieved before in your entire life and you are overcome with the most irresistible urge to throw your arms around him tightly but Ace wraps his arms around you first and pulls you into a bone-crushing hug. The moment is short-lived as a stabbing pain takes over you as he accidentally presses his fingers into the wound on your back and you're wincing all over again and hissing from the pain so Ace lets go of you immediately.

"Oh, uh. Sorry." He loosens his grip on you and instead, he moves to sit up with you in his arms where he proceeds to prop you up to sit in his lap, arms sliding around your waist. You're not sure where to put your sore hands so you merely drape them over his shoulders. Your noses touching, Ace murmurs, "Are you okay?"

You nod. His cool gray eyes stare deeply into yours and your cheeks go somewhat warm from the intense, rapturous gaze he subjects to you. "Ace, you're alive. What happened?" You're not sure if you should mention that you saw a mermaid swim away with him...hell, did he even see her? Does he even know? From the looks of it, he doesn't seem aware at all... is the mermaid still around? Where is she and what happened to her? Why was she lurking around the ship anyway, especially during a storm?

He uses one hand to rub the back of his head, messing up his thick, unruly dark hair. "...When I woke up, we were already both washed ashore but you wouldn't wake up no matter how many times I tried. I was really worried." He mutters, then he glances away from you to gesture to your surroundings; it's a typical island with a sandy beach, palm trees and a forest in the middle. "I don't know where we are but it looks like - "

You hold your breath.  _Please don't tell me we're on a deserted island...Please don't tell me we're on a deserted island_ - 

"- we're on a deserted island." 

You exhale and groan loudly. "You have got to be kidding me." You utter your breath whilst Ace blinks blankly at you.

Glancing at yourself, there are makeshift bandages covering your injured hands and shoulder and you notice you're dressed in nothing but your panties and bloodstained bra. Your jaw drops in shock, eyes wide. "Where are my clothes?" You exclaim, letting go of him to use your arms to cover yourself as much as possible. Looking up, you see that Ace's gaze is on your chest and he's staring, especially at the deep line of your exposed cleavage and the plump swell of your breasts that isn't covered by the flimsy material. Your hands are inadvertently pushing your chest further up even more than intended and his ogling intensifies at the view you’re unknowingly bestowing him with. "Don’t look!” You bark, your face growing hot under his gaze.

"Sorry."

"You're still looking! Turn around! Where's my coat?"

Ace doesn't turn; instead, he chooses to cover his eyes with one hand. "I hung it over there to dry." He stammers slightly, and you follow the direction he's pointing to, spying your coat lying over a fallen palm tree trunk. "Sorry, I had to...you know...take your clothes off. Your clothes were all wet. Don't worry, I didn't look."

Regardless, your cheeks are burning like crazy. "Can you bring my coat over, please?"

"Okay, okay..." Ace shifts out of his spot to get up and hurries over, grabbing your coat before promptly returning to you. Huh...he's surprisingly obedient, unless he makes an exception when it comes to you. You grab your marine coat off his hands but your fingers are too sore right now to button it up properly so you leave it draped over your shoulders. Dusting yourself down, you then attempt to stand. "What are you doing?" He blurts out as you push yourself off the palm leaves, your knees trembling. The coat is long but your legs are still exposed. His eyes are glued to your form, staring up at you as you wobble over him.

"I'm getting the hell out of here."

"You just woke up."

"Don't care. Where's your Log Pose?"

"You can't use it. It's broken." He shows you his wrist, where all you can see are the remnants of a smashed glass orb, the metal pointer missing.

Sighing, you add, "Did you see any birds around? Any North, South or East bird?"

"Nope."

"How long was I out?"

"...Two days."

"Two days!?"

He nods. "[Y/N]. You need to rest."

"I don't want to rest." You reply. The stabbing pain returns and you grit your teeth, beads of sweat dotting your forehead, and your poor legs have really gone through quite a lot so far so you're not surprised that you find your legs giving way from under you and you're about to collapse but Ace is one step ahead of you, grabbing you with one arm around your back and the other deftly slips around your waist, pulling you flush up against his bare chest, your cheek smushes against one rock hard pec and all of a sudden you're very aware of how half-naked he is and you're starting to realise how much it is beginning to affect you... Heat rises to your cheeks immediately at the awkward arrangement but Ace appears to be oblivious as he helps you to stand, yet you have to continue to lean on him for support, his hands holding yours tightly.

"You need to rest." He repeats, and there's a sternness to his tone this time which is unfamiliar to you considering he's been rather laidback and lackadaisical, but all of a sudden and that persona has disappeared and he's gazing intently into your eyes and his lips are thin and tight in a light frown. You go silent at once as he gently seats you back down and pulls your coat over you tightly. 

Confined to the bed of palm leaves, you're left to ponder about your situation whilst Ace plops his hat over your head (to protect you from the sun, he says, and also, you're surprised it survived and it's still in his possession). Then he begins to tend to you in a quiet but dedicated manner. He's surprisingly efficient at looking after the injured and weak as you watch him work silently at the side where he's gathered a few supplies. Sitting cross legged beside you, you see the lean muscles of his abs flexing and the smooth, rugged stretch of his serratus anterior as he moves and you recall how every time he hugs you or remotely holds you close, you've always felt how sturdy and warm he is and its enough to bring heat to your cheeks by the mere thought of it. As your glance trails down, you see the waistband of his shorts and how low slung they appear to be when he's sitting. He starts to tear strips of fabric smoothly from this cloth he has sprawled over his lap with his short dagger which was attached to his belt before he places them to his left. Then he proceeds to wash some food he's collected with a metal tub that is filled with water - wait, what?

"Where'd you get those from?" You ask, pointing to the tub and cloth.

"I found a shipwreck on the other side of the island." 

"And the owners?"

"I saw them."

"You did?"

"Yeah, but they were dead. So I guess they don't mind me taking these." He says nonchalantly, and your eyes bulge as he gestures to the tub and then he jabs his thumb behind him and you glance over to see that he's also salvaged part of a sail: there's a large, dirty white sheet that's been folded over a rock.

"Dead?!" 

"Yep. I found their bodies."

His comment makes you sit up in alarm but this only makes you hurt again so you hiss and slowly sink over the leaves. "...Ace, don't you know what this means? They were never rescued!" 

He shrugs, washes a random fruit with some water before handing it to you to eat along with a flask of water. "We'll be fine. Oyaji will be looking for us."

You watch him with wide eyes as he continues washing various pieces of strange-looking, odd-colored fruit and handing them to you one at a time for your taking. You can drink the water no problem, but your hands can't remotely curl or move much at all so the fruit end up dropping out of your palms and into your lap and you bite your lip. Ace notices immediately and with the next piece of fruit, he uses his dagger to cut it into tiny pieces and offering them to you. You take it off him but find your fingers can't even close round it and it drops to your lap again. Ace and you exchange glances before your expression crumbles completely; you are crestfallen, but when you hear Ace chuckling, you look up. Frowning at him, his big palm lands atop your head and he gives you a big pat before he picks up a piece and slips it into your mouth. Your face burns red with embarrassment.

"D-don't do that." You're quick to protest. 

"You need to eat something."

You're about to open your mouth again to rebuke but he uses this opportunity to pop another piece of fruit into your mouth and your lips accidentally brush over his fingers when he retreats. You quickly chew and swallow, as Ace licks and sucks off the juice that's remained on his fingers. And yes, it's the same fingers he just used to feed you with. You accidentally emit a choked grunt as you bear witness to his actions. He turns to you, confused, but you quickly glance away. Holy hell. You're not used to this. You're a strong person. Your will is iron. You're tough as nails, you are a strong girl...but somehow, this is really getting to you. Ace is kind to you but this is too much now. Ace cuts into another fruit but before you take a bite out of a bright blue pear-shaped fruit he has given you, you notice the skin of the fruit is in a familiar swirl pattern and you cock a brow. "Ace?"

"What is it?"

"...I think this is a devil fruit." 

He blinks wide-eyed, then grins. "Really?" He scoots over to your side immediately as you show him the fruit and he plucks it out of your grip, puts a hand to his chin as though in deep thought.

"Where did you find it?"

"Just in the woods over there."

"You didn't know?"

"Nope. It just looked good to eat." After a quick, brief scrutiny, he hands it back to you. "You should eat it."

The fruit is heavy in your hand. You've never seen one like this before and you're not sure if you should eat it. In fact, you have no inclination to eat it. Firstly, you don't even know what kind of powers and what kind of abilities it will bring. Secondly, at least one of you must know how to swim. Suddenly, you hear Ace chuckling again and when you look at him, he's grinning at you widely. "What?" You ask, but then it occurs to you: "Did I just say that out loud?"

"Yeah."

Your face goes red uncontrollably as he chuckles. "W-well, it's true," You say dismissively, looking away from him before hurriedly handing him the devil fruit. "One of us has to retain the ability to swim. Therefore, I don't want it. You should eat it."

"Nah, don't want to. Not sure if I can anyway." He says with a grin and he puts it to the side. "Here, eat this one then."

He gives you a slice of apple instead. You mutter your thanks as you take a bite of the fruit and its taste is sweet on your tongue; you stare morosely into the horizon where you see nothing but sea; there are no signs of any ship or boat, no islands, no land. Nothing. You munch silently, deep in thought whilst Ace does the same. You both eat wordlessly until you notice he is staring at you. "What?" You say again, with a mouthful of apple.

"I'm sorry."

He's said that several times now. "...What for?"

"You got hurt because of me; if I didn't fall asleep, Brutus wouldn't have - "

"It's not your fault." Watching him from the corner of your eye, you decide it's better he explains to you about why he suddenly falls asleep like that. You know it's a disorder known as narcolepsy but you won't say anything; after all, maybe he is quite sensitive about it. He can tell you more when he feels it is the right time, or, if he wants to tell you. You understand and respect that.

"I, uh...I fall asleep like that sometimes." He utters, "I don't know why and I can't control it."

"Then it's not your fault, but you did kill Brutus though."

"Anyone who attacks a Whitebeard cannot be forgiven. You didn't have to do what you did."

Now you know he's talking about how you protected him. "I couldn't just sit and do nothing. He was going to kill you, and I swore an oath that I would fight to protect."

"I thought you said you fight to kill."

"Yeah, I did say that, but I can also fight to protect too."

"Are you sure you're not just making things up as you go along?"

"S-shut up!" 

Thus begins your life with Ace on a deserted island.

....


	7. Girl Action

**GIRL ACTION**

...

...

 _"Ace and [Y/N] sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!_ _First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage!"_

_"SHUT UP, LUFFY!"_

_As Luffy finishes his song, he and Sabo roll around in hysterics on the floor whilst Ace fumes, tiny fists curling at his side._

_Sabo stands up, turns round with his back to them and promptly wraps his arms around himself, “Kiss me, [Y/N]!!!! Mwah mwah mwah!!” Imitating a high pitched voice now: “Oooh, Ace, hold me!”_

_”Not you too, Sabo!_ _Grr....I'LL KICK YOUR ASSES!" He screams as he's about to lunge at them with his pipe only to come to a jarring halt, dangling in mid-air._

 _Dadan towers behind him, holding him up by the scruff of his t-shirt._ _"SHUT UP, YOU BRATS! I'M TRYIN' TO NAP HERE!”_

_"LET ME GO!!!"_

_"NOT UNTIL YOU PIPSQUEAKS QUIETEN DOWN!"_

_Suddenly the door opens loudly, slamming against the wall and a massive figure fills the frame, grinning widely with a wave. It's Garp. "Helloooo, I've come to visit - WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!"_

_..._

_After a painful lesson from Garp which ends with Luffy, Sabo, Ace and Dadan with bumps and bruises, Ace sits outside on a large rock overlooking the ocean. Garp sits near him, sighing._

_"Old man."_

_"What is it, Ace?"_

_"Why would anyone have my name on their arm?"_

_"Oh, so that's on your mind. Well...that's how soulmates work."_

_"Why would I have one?"_

_"Of course you'll have one! Out there in the world, there's that one special person for someone."_

_"Why would there be anyone out there for me in the world, when the world wants me dead?"_

...

Ace muses to himself as he tends to the fire, poking at the flames with a tree branch in hand. He wonders how Luffy and Dadan are. He ought to go visit sometime if he has the chance. Glancing at the mark on his arm where her name is, he also remembers telling the old man that fateful visit that he did not care about the mark at all and he was not interested because he didn't think he would deserve anything like it and if he does meet her anyway, she will reject him, especially when she finds out who he is. Or maybe she's just like him, hated and unwanted in the world. But now that he has actually met her, it's a lot different than he thought. People know about his name on her arm, right? Wouldn't they have figured out something by now? And she's a marine, too... 

"Ace."

She's sitting in front of him, cross-legged and waving a hand in front of his face. He's staring at her. She's beautiful, with those amazing features and curves and legs, and she's tough, bloodthirsty...and then there's that violent, homicidal streak of hers too but that's fine with him because there's something about her that is so alluring and he can't put his finger to it, can't quite figure out what it is. The way she says his name makes him hot and bothered, too. His brothers think she’s nasty and mean but he doesn’t think that at all. She's a marine but she doesn't seem to be the typical kind of marine... there's something about her he can't get out of his mind and he's overlooking everything. It's not like he's going to throw away Oyaji's dream anytime soon of course, but at the moment she's appeared in his life at this particular time. He hasn't known her for long at all. He doesn't know anything about her...yet they've kissed and they've hugged and they’ve almost held hands.

That's a lot of girl action he's had since he left home. He wants to tell Luffy.

It also doesn’t help that she’s wearing nothing but her bra and panties in front of him. Sure, she has her coat but she keeps it draped over her shoulders and with each move, every light breeze from the wind - whenever the coat shifts, he’s awarded with periodical opportunities to catch glimpses of her cleavage, the exposed roundness of her breasts, her smooth stomach and her long, supple legs. Pretty much everything. It’s hot, but distracting. Mostly hot. 

"Ace?" She snaps her fingers in front of his face but he's still unresponsive and doesn't even blink. " _Ace!_ "

Finally, he blinks and snaps out of his thoughts... Only because she sounds mad and he doesn't like it when she's mad, especially if she's mad because of _him_. "[Y/N], what's wrong? Are you in pain again? Hungry? I can go fishing.”

"No, I’m not hungry. You've been staring at me non-stop for five minutes." She points out with half-lidded eyes, though she isn't mad as he had believed.

However, he immediately aborts eye contact, cheeks going warm. "Oh, sorry, I wasn't...staring." is his lame response. He really wants to kick himself right now.

"Don't tell me you were sleeping with your eyes open."

There's a brief silence.

"No." 

"Your hand is on fire. Is that normal?"

Throwing his glance to his right hand, indeed, his hand is now stuck in the fire and his hand has seemingly fused with the heat, becoming nothing but a flurry of orange, dancing flames. However, he quickly retreats, shaking his palm and sending little embers flying around. "Yeah, totally normal!" He replies with a wide grin as he shows her his intact hand, waving and wiggling his long fingers. "See?"

"O-okay, well...you said you had something to show me?"

"Ah. Yeah." He remembers he had a surprise for her in store and he proceeds to turn round with his back to her and he sticks his arms out behind, inviting her to climb onto his back. Although he thought she might protest, he's relatively surprised to find that she isn’t doubting him or voicing any sort of concern, sliding her arms around his neck and when she's holding on, he lifts her up effortlessly. She's light in his grip as he hooks his arms under the bend of her knees. Her cheeks goes pink as she clutches him, glancing around herself curiously. He grins at her as he tightens his grip. "Let's go."

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

...

Ace carries you through the forest and far away from camp at the sandy seashore; your arms are wrapped around his neck whilst he's holding you up with his arms hooked under your knees. He seems to enjoy carrying you since he appears to be in a good mood and he turns round to you occasionally to grin. You know he's checking up on you to ensure you're okay, but earnestly you have not relaxed since you woke up. You're blessed with a good view of his sturdy back and he's practically inviting you to lean on his thick, wide and broad shoulders - you can even bury your face in his crisp dark hair or perhaps settle your nose into the thick column of his neck - but nope, you're all good. It's almost night-time now and he's journeyed quite far. You can see he's fixed some torches along the way which he lights up using flames. There's a few strange noises mostly from birds in the trees and some are downright chilling so you feel a whole lot safer knowing Ace is with you. Besides, it looks like the pirate won't leave your side no matter what.

Suddenly, he comes to a stop and you peek over his wide shoulders to see he's arrived at a small lagoon with a large rock in the middle that splits the majority of the water in two. 

"I found this earlier. You can take a bath here." He says cheerfully, "I can heat the water for you."

"Wait - " You begin, but too late, he's already settling you down on the ground and he's flexing the muscles in his broad shoulders and back and you can really see his muscles rippling under the moonlight and you really don't want to look but somehow you can't seem to tear your eyes away...and then he kicks off his boots before he enters the lagoon, wading in until the water reaches his waist. You move to stand, clutching your coat tightly to yourself as you waddle to the side of the water. "Ace, wait."

Turning to you with a grin, he says, "Watch this, [Y/N]." He concentrates hard and the water begins to steam up; you know he is responsible for this and suddenly the water starts bubbling. Ace seems unfazed though and you're watching keenly until a few moments later and a number of dead frogs and tiny fish float up to the surface.

Your eyes grow wide. "Ace, you killed everything."

He glances around himself. "Oh...uh...sorry." He utters awkwardly. You sigh under your breath as he rubs the back of his head, grinning at you sheepishly now. "...What do you think?"

You bite down on your bottom lip as you flick your gaze from the dead frogs and fish, to him. It's a massacre. Plus, the lagoon smells like toast now. He stares at you unflinchingly and you sigh once more. He’s heated the water and made a nice, hot bath for you. There's steam everywhere, it resembles a sauna of some sort. Since he's gone through all this trouble to bring you here, the more you think about it... the more you come to realise it is a nice gesture, even if it's coming from a _pirate_. "This is nice, Ace. Thanks."

He gives you another big wide grin and he seems really happy with your response as he moves to the other side of the lagoon where the large rock is. "I'll be over here, [Y/N]."

"Okay, just don't fall asleep, alright?"

"Don’t worry, I won’t!" He reassures you, and you both start removing your clothes at the same time. You can hear him unfastening his belt and there's the sound of a zipper being pulled down. Heat rises to your cheeks immediately. Uhhh...hmm, okay, you will pretend you didn't hear that; you start removing your marine coat, folding it and placing it to the side before working on your bandages, bra and panties. You are halfway through shimmying out of your panties when there's a loud but muffled clunk from his side and it's possibly his belt; you're aware that he's removed his shorts entirely now. Once you are fully unclothed, you settle yourself in the steaming hot water of the lagoon until it's up to your shoulders and make your way to the rock, sighing in bliss. Ahhh, this is nice...so very nice and relaxing... the tense knots in your shoulders finally erodes away and so does the pain in your hands and back. The water is doing wonders for your skin and muscles and you close your eyes.

There's a brief silence until you recall that you should really check in case Ace has fallen asleep again. "Hey, Ace?"

"What is it?"

You just want to make sure he's fine and that he's not asleep. "Nothing."

The silence returns; there is no sound except from the birds that are gently cooing in the trees and the occasional rustle of branches in the wind until -

"[Y/N], are you from Wano?" He asks. He keeps thinking you're from Wano Country and you suppose some idle chitchat is to be expected since you are both bathing together albeit in different sides of the lagoon. However, you despise small talk and everything to do with it so you remain silent. Ace picks up on it immediately and from his side of the lagoon, you hear him say jovially, "Not much of a talker, are you?"

"...I don't like talking about myself." is your disgruntled reply.

"Thats okay. I don't mind. I guess I can tell you about myself then!" He exclaims cheerfully, "I'm from Dawn Island! I left home when I was seventeen years old and I ate the Mera Mera no Mi when I got shipwrecked on an island called Sixis. It took me a while to learn and control my powers but I'm a lot better now. I have a little brother too."

Ace has a little brother? You can't help but wonder what he's like... he's probably a pirate too.

"Then I became Captain of the Spade Pirates - "

"Ace."

"Yeah?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt but there's something that's been bugging me. Why is your name _Portgas_ and not _Gol_? Is Whitebeard really your father?"

"Oyaji's not my father. Everyone just calls him that. My father - "

When he stops, you wait for him to continue, but there's the loud sound of water splashing followed by a long, tepid silence, and you start to worry for his well-being. "Ace?" You wait it out for a few moments but when nothing happens...uh-oh, you know that's a really bad sign so you rise from the water and carefully peek out from the side of your rock only to see that Ace is missing from the lagoon. "Ace?!"

You venture over to his side, glimpsing around to see nothing but an empty lagoon and that he is indeed gone; however, you squint your eyes and his distorted, blurry form under the surface can be seen.

He's fallen asleep.

"Ace! Ugh, not this again..." You wade towards him, take a deep breath and submerge, reaching for his arm, and you pull him up and lift him out of the water and his body is limp, flopping forwards and he ends up with his face landing in your nape and suddenly you're feeling very awkward...well, no shit, because the both of you are butt-naked right now and this is too much skin-to-skin contact than you ever wanted with him in your entire life so you quickly push him off you and shake him by the shoulders. "Hey. Are you asleep?"

His eyes are closed, little droplets of water running down the tips of his hair and running over the bumpy, bulging muscles of his shoulders and chest. His lips are parted and his head is nodding forwards. You can see the perfect outline of his jaw and the little spray of freckles on his handsome face. Inwardly, you swallow down.

Trying not to get distracted, you say loudly, "Ace, wake up."

There is no response.

You shake him once more, with a little more force than usual that his head lolls around his shoulders. "Wake up!"

There is still no reply from the young man before you and fearing the worst, you slide your finger under his nose to check if he's breathing and you're alarmed to find that he's not. "Oh shit." You utter, eyes wide. "You better not die on me, Portgas D. Ace!" Seizing him, you heave him all the way to the side of the lagoon, paddling like a dog. You mentally blot out the fact that your chest is pressed against his back and it's a weird sensation. Sure, he's always been parading around half-naked in his shorts and boots since you've met him but at the moment he is really just _soooo naked_. Therefore, once you reach the pebbly shore of the lagoon, you grab your coat and button it up over yourself whilst you close your eyes as you lift him out of the water under the arms and lay him over the ground, before blindly groping the ground for his shorts and once you find them, you throw them over his lower regions. You open your eyes, sighing with relief that he's covered even though you can see some of his perfectly toned ass. Holy sweet mother of Jesus, lord give you strength.

You keep yourself in the right state of mind with a perfect, repetitive mantra of _focus, focus, focus_ as you get to work immediately; you move to kneel down beside him and roll up your imaginary sleeves. Recalling your _Mouth to Mouth Resuscitation Class 101_ of one particular boring semester at the Marine Academy, you proceed to reach over and pinch Ace's nose with your thumb and forefinger before leaning down and you gently press your lips over his. You give him one rescue breath before releasing him to ensure his chest moves. Nothing. You repeat the action again until you pull away from him and you see that his eyes are open.

That was...quick?

"Ace?!"

"...What are you doing?"

"You almost drowned again!" You let go of him immediately and he sits up, blinking unfocusedly whilst you wipe your lips with the back of your hand.

"Huh? Oh." He ponders for a short moment, then shakes his head. "Uh...nope, I just fell asleep."

"What!" You snap, before you move to stand up, brows furrowing tightly. "What the hell!" You're up for saving lives, protecting the weak, fighting to protect, to kill, whatever... But right now, you felt rather cheated. You swear to god, Ace might be the death of you one day... You turn away and stomp towards the other direction, frowning.

"Wait, [Y/N], I'm sorry! Where are you going?" He calls after you as he hurriedly moves to stand and he grabs your arm, causing you to turn round and at the same time, his shorts peel off his body and falls, landing at his feet in a crumpled pile with a loud 'thump'. Your eyes widen for the umpteenth time today as Ace stands before you completely nude as the day he was born.

"AGHHHH!" You can't help but emit a strangled cry. You quickly shake your arm out of his grip to slap your hands over your eyes whilst he hastily bends down to grab his shorts off the ground. He can't stop apologising; you hear him hurriedly re-dress himself, slipping in one leg after the other and tugging on his belt before he grabs his hat and shoes; looking up, he sees you storming away and begins trailing after you meekly albeit barefoot.

"[Y/N], I'm sorry... I'm sorry, come back!"

You stop in your tracks. Turning round, you point at him and bark, "I'm going to say this once and only once. To stop this kind of thing from happening ever again... from now on, you and I are going to take baths together!"

There's another silence as Ace looks at you, bewildered.

Your cheeks grow hot. "D-don't get the wrong idea! I just don't want you drowning on me again!"

He blinks numbly. "Oh...That makes sense."

The journey back to camp is an awkward one...

...

It's getting really late and the island's climate is changing abruptly. During the day and it's sunny and warm...during the night and it's dark as hell and the temperature drops to freezing and Ace sees her sitting near the fire; previously and she was shivering in one corner, her hair standing on end, her teeth chattering and he could see wispy puffs of air escaping between her clenched teeth. He’s fully aware she doesn’t have a lot of clothes to wear and he couldn’t find any clothes she could use from the female dead body from the shipwreck (not that she probably wanted them anyway)… and her current clothes don’t assist with keeping her warm at all.

He feels much better when he can see color returning to her cheeks; he watches her sigh with relief and it makes him feel good that he is able to provide that for her. Grabbing the white sheet, he’s about to lay it down when he sees her trying to tie a clean bandage over her back on her own but failing miserably due to the lack of another pair of hands to assist. He immediately puts down the sheet and approaches her - she’s sitting cross-legged in front of the fire and she glances up when he firmly seats himself by her side.

At first, he thought he saw her cringe briefly but dismisses it when she utters, "What is it?" 

“I can help.” He replies, "I bandaged you when you were unconscious. You can’t do it on your own.”

“Yes, I can.”

Suddenly, the bandage comes undone and falls down again, causing her to groan in frustration. If he’s guessed correctly, that’s the fifth time she’s tried to tie it. A silence spawns until she sighs. “Alright, here. Hold this for me." She shifts in her spot so now she is sitting with her back to him before she passes him the clean bandages. Then she brushes her hair to rest over one shoulder and away from her back and Ace blinks as she proceeds to shrug her marine coat off and it drops to her lap - she's just wearing nothing else but her bra - and she pulls down the strap over one shoulder.

He freezes. Whoa. Hold up. Why does this feel so different than last time? Ah yes, because she was unconscious and he bandaged her _over_ the bra and he had his eyes closed the entire time, so yes, it was not exactly a top notch job but he got it done. So this is very different. She's awake and she's pulled down her bra strap for him and he discovers he’s not quite prepared for this after all and he emits a sound akin to a dying whale, causing her to turn round questioningly. He can’t help himself. He knows his face is red. Now he understands why she didn't want his help. 

From his perspective, he'd do everything for her, but before he can respond, she says, “Just help me with my back. I can bandage my hands on my own."

Ace's voice seems to have gone into hiding but he manages to croak out, "Okay."

His heart is starting to beat harder. He lifts one long strip of bandage up then looks at her back. The wound is ugly as hell, the skin ripped, torn and shredded, but upon closer inspection it looks like it is slowly healing. Ace starts to work; he avoids touching her wound but his fingers accidentally brush against the untarnished part of her skin and he pauses in case she turns round but she doesn’t, so he continues and begins looping the bandage around her shoulder and over her front, stretching it over her chest before grabbing it from her side and then he lifts it back so it covers the wound. It's a far more intimidating, difficult task than he had hoped. He's close to her. If he's not careful he might accidentally graze her chest, so he works slowly but carefully, with the precision similar to a surgeon. The fire casts a dim, orange, healthy glow on her and she looks beautiful and he swallows down as he loops it a second time only for the bra strap to get caught and he has to tug it out, causing the strap to go further down her arm. Shit.

"Is it bad?" She's asking about the wound, as Ace lets out another choked grunt at the sight as the front of her bra moves slightly and he can see the side of her breast. Holy fuck! He’s accidentally exposing her!

"N-Not really, it's starting to heal." He splutters out; she doesn't seem aware or bothered by the loose strap at all so he continues. He wraps the bandage around her a third time and once again, it gets caught. This time, on the actual hook. His heartbeat speeds up to an astronomical level. What the hell is he doing? His fingers are not listening to him; they feel clumsy and they can't stop trembling. No, it's not him. It's this...this confuddled, accursed contraption!!! He despises it with a burning passion even though the mere sight of it is enough to whittle his self-control into nothingness. He is determined not to be defeated by black lace! However, this time she notices and she’s quick to react; her expression contorts, brows furrowing. He has an inkling she is thinking the same (albeit in a different light of the aforementioned detestable, loathsome bra) so she reaches behind her and is about to promptly unhook it but - 

She stops and turns to him. "I need to take this off. You don't need to help me anymore. Thanks."

"S-sure." He stutters slightly. He's sweating badly, hands are clammy, and his body hotter than ever before. Without another word, Ace leaves her side and he heads into the jungle with a desperate need to cool off.

...

Ace returns to camp just as the fire dies away. He looks sheepish as he approaches and mumbles something to you then goes to collect the sheet he left lying on the side. His cheeks are still red. Ace silently lays out the white sheet over the palm trees and you both glance at each other. 

"Which side do you want?” He asks, but you don’t reply as you’re not sure yourself so he suggests, “I can take the left since it faces the ocean and it's probably colder."

The sheet is not as big as you had hoped so it means you will need to share with him and most likely, you will be close together. Nevertheless, you nod and Ace proceeds to lie down and stretches over the sheet.

You move to lie down beside him, having to lie on your side to avoid aggravating your wound, and you lay your head on the pillow. The 'pillow' is a bundle of soft leaves Ace wrapped up and you are both close that you can feel his warmth, but you know deep inside that you would receive the full benefit if he's spooning you as he did when you woke up this morning. You sneak a peek over your shoulder to see that he's lying on his side too, but with his back to you. You can see the full Whitebeard tattoo inked proudly on his back, the lines and bumps of his muscles. However, you feel closed off from him, as though he's trying to distance himself from you.

"Goodnight, [Y/N]." 

"Night, Ace. Get some rest."

Thinking nothing of it, you close your eyes.

...

You wake up with no sense of time passing and no clue as to how long has passed; however, since you're greeted with darkness, it's unfortunate that you perhaps only managed a few hours or minutes of precious sleep. Your nose is only a few inches shy of being pushed into a limpet-covered rock; a rather dangerous position as you come to facts that you're lying on the edge of the sheet, having being nudged all the way over from your previous spot in the middle. Behind you, there's a solid heat pressed up against your back and your waist is captive to someone's sturdy grip. It's Ace of course, who is now spooning you from behind and his gentle exhales and inhales fall into rhythm with the lull of the ocean waves that lazily lap at the shore. You let out a low groan and his arm around your waist tightens, his nose buried deep in your hair. His scent is musky and strong. You feel like it's everywhere, all over you, as though he's claimed you. You find your cheeks going red from the arrangement you have woken up to. Swallowing down, any attempts to shift out of your current position causes him to groan and you're worried you might wake him up as you just want to inch out of his hold without him noticing. You pause to mentally scoff at your predicament, at the irony of it all...previously and you were doing all you could to wake him up...now you don't want him to wake up at all.

"[Y/N]...what's wrong..." You hear him mutter blearily.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's okay. I wasn't sleeping." He murmurs, "I can't sleep."

"...You can't sleep?"

"Yeah."

You carefully turn round so you're facing him and Ace retreats his arm from your waist; the close proximity you have with him right now is somewhat daunting, with your noses almost touching and you can feel his gentle breaths on your cheeks but its so cold you find his heat welcoming and if you move further from him, you'll risk freezing yourself to the core. Ace is indeed awake; he looks tired... but he hasn't been able to sleep at all? Concerned, you murmur under your breath, "What's wrong?"

"I don't know. This hasn't happened to me before." He sounds miserable and your expression softens. "Can we... talk? I know you don't like talking, but..."

"It's fine. We can talk."

"Are you sure?"

You give him a reassuring nod. "Yes. It's completely fine."

"How's your back and your hands?"

“Still sore but they’ll get better soon."

"[Y/N], I'll make sure we get rescued. I know you're suffering and I know you're in a lot of pain. I've put you through so much. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Ace. Being a marine is tough. This is nothing I can't handle, so you don't have to worry."

There's a silence following your words; Ace is looking at you, and you're looking at him. Suddenly, Ace reaches for you, his hand coming closer and closer. You stiffen immediately but he doesn't seem to notice and you are frozen in place as he proceeds to plop his large palm over your head and he brushes a strand of hair away from your eyes and behind your ear. His hand is nice and warm, bringing soothing comfort. You are completely still, blinking in stunned silence and he pulls away from you to find your hand, clutching it with his own. However, you do not pull away, letting him rub his thumb over the back of your palm before he gives your fingers an affectionate squeeze. There's a thick lump in your throat which you swallow down. You're numb but your heartbeat quickens and then there's that squeeze in your stomach followed by backflips, butterflies, the usual. Ace has this effect on you. 

His mouth moves.

You didn't hear, partially because you're too busy staring at his devilishly handsome face... and his hair...urgh, why oh why do you have the urge to run your hands through it, much like how you did when you were on Whitebeard's ship??? "What?" You croak out.

He chuckles. "You're not from Wano?"

"No, I'm not from Wano.” You reply, clearing your throat as you gather your thoughts, “...I'm from Amazon Lily. Or at least, my mother was. She left to find her soulmate and met my dad when she was traveling. He's from North Blue."

Now he's intrigued, giving your hand a thorough rub. "That explains why you're tough."

"I've still got a long way to go."

"Why are you a marine?"

It takes you a while to reply to that question. "...My dad is a marine and he enlisted me at a very young age.... so I guess I didn’t have much of a choice. I haven't seen my dad for a while though, not since I left the Academy."

"What's he like?"

"Stern. Pretty scary. He's also very strong."

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"Nope."

He ponders briefly then says, "How old are you?"

You tell him your age and Ace looks at your entwined hands, before he splays out your fingers with his, your palms pressed together. Your hand is much smaller than his. "Ace, question for you - have you had a girlfriend before?"

His face turns red in response and he glances away from you. "No."

You find that hard to believe; that can't be possible. With a face and body like his, ladies should be throwing themselves at him from left, right, front and centre. "No way. Not even a crush?"

However, he's adamant in his answer and shakes his head furiously. "No." Then he mutters under his breath, "What about you?"

"...There was this one guy at the Academy who was interested and wanted to date me. He told me his name was ‘Ace’ and then wrote my name on his arm."

Ace sits up immediately in alarm, his jaw dropping, your hand leaving his. "What?!"

"Calm down, nothing happened between us." You reply with a grin as you recall that particular memory. It’s enough to bring a smile to your lips when you recall the time Curie taught him a lesson not to abuse the soulmate mark, a lesson she ensured he would never forget. "I knew he was a fraud anyway and his name was actually Larry. He was such a douchebag." 

Ace has no response to that. He goes silent, staring at you, eyes glued to your lips.

"What?"

"...You're...smiling."

"Huh?"

"You're smiling." He mutters under his breath, and you drop your grin immediately. "I haven't seen you smile before." He adds, "...You should smile more often. It suits you."

His comment makes you cringe. "I don't smile just for anybody."

Now he's blinking blankly. "So..."

No, no, no, what is happening here? You're letting your guard down...you're letting him hold your hand, you're _smiling_ , and words that you normally wouldn't say are slipping out easily from your mouth like water. This is...how you talk to Curie, who is your _close friend_. Normally, you're quiet around those who you just meet, those you aren't close with. It's only when you're closer when you start to open up. Ooh shit.

"I'm going to sleep and you should too, Ace." You say hurriedly, before you attempt to return to lie on your side, facing away from him. Your back still hurts although it is gradually improving, the pain still prevalent should you accidentally aggravate it. Hissing slightly, you have to slowly inch yourself bit by bit over the sheet. You adjust yourself accordingly to be more comfortable, closing your eyes. Behind you, you can hear Ace shifting to lie down and he's close; when his arm slides around your waist, you reopen your eyes and you can hear his voice in your ear, his lips near the side of your face.

"[Y/N]... can I hold you like this?"

The warmth of his body is welcoming when you feel his chest pressing against your back. He's a reliable source of never-ending but soothing heat...literally a human heater. "Sure." You murmur under your breath, closing your eyes again. "Try and get some sleep."

"Okay." Ace closes his eyes and goes silent, but not before giving you a tight squeeze as he buries his face into your hair, inhaling your scent. There's a smile on his face as he holds you close to him for the remainder of the night.

...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y’all, so I really couldn’t stay away and wanted to update! Plus the move to my new house with my family is exhausting and stressful so I really enjoyed writing this. I hope you all had a fab Christmas and hope you enjoyed this chapter too!!! Just a few notes to cover -
> 
> 1\. Before I even started writing this I wanted Reader to have roots from Amazon Lily, and that she is not a Devil Fruit user. She was also meant to have a pet snake called Snakie  
> 2\. May also might be interesting to point out that Reader has never smiled until now and she also doesn’t smile in general  
> 3\. Cameos here include Luffy, Sabo, Dadan and Garp. I really want to write more about them, especially Garp lol  
> 4\. Wanted to also ask what you guys think about lemons? Yay or nay?


	8. Just the Two of Us

**JUST** **THE** **TWO** **OF** **US**

...

...

_You're crying._

_There's fire surrounding you and you cannot escape; the atmosphere is thick with dark, acrid smoke. A low but loud creak grabs your attention and you look up - a falling pillar is about to crash into you and you squeeze your eyes shut, bracing yourself for impact but nothing happens. Re-opening your eyes, you glance up in shock to see that a wall of ice has appeared above you from out of nowhere, and someone grabs you by the back of your shirt, pulling you out from under the overturned bookshelf that's kept you pinned to the ground._

_"What are you doing here, kid?" It's Uncle Kuzan._

_"Kuzie!" You exclaim with relief as he effortlessly lifts you up in his arms, "I can't find my mama!"_

_"...Need to get you out of here first." He carries you out of the burning house and you hold onto him, clutching at his shoulders as he avoids falling debris and freezes anything that's in his way._

_You make it out of the house safely but not before the roof caves in entirely just mere moments after Kuzan steps out of the doorstep and the house collapses in a heap to the ground, causing you to gasp. "Mama's still in there!"_

_"Kid. Your mom's gone." Kuzan mutters. Without another word, he carries you quietly down the path whilst you're kicking and screaming and crying; however, once you both enter the village square, the sight of countless dead bodies lying over the ground renders you speechless. You recognise some of them - the butcher, your school teacher, the milk man - and then there's a few people whom you don't recognise but they're all men and they're rather scary looking. A marine stands at very end; he's a huge and tall man with a cigar clenched between his teeth, donned in the signature white coat and cap. He stands before a small man who is kneeling on the ground, his wrists and ankles cuffed. The man is trembling, eyes squeezed shut as he begs for mercy. All his desperate pleas fall onto deaf ears as the marine places his massive palm over the man's head...and at first you don't know what he's doing but then it all comes clear; moments later and bubbling hot magma pours out from underneath his palm and you stare as he proceeds to melt the man's head; the man is screaming in agony, screaming over and over again and flailing violently against his bonds to no avail...before he suddenly goes quiet and still. The marine lets go and the man's body slumps over the ground. Dead. The head has been melted clean off the shoulders._

_"Is that all of them?" The marine grunts out, completely unfazed by the gruesome sight._

_"Y-yes, sir." A seaman recruit meekly responds as he clutches a rifle in hands._

_"Good."_

_"Sakazuki, I found her." Uncle Kuzan lets you down but you're staring at the dead body with widened eyes and you clutch onto his leg._

_"Let me talk to her." The giant man moves in front of you as Uncle Kuzan sidesteps away._

_"...Where's mama?" You squeak out as his shadow covers you._

_"She's dead." He says; there is no hint of emotion in his voice as he gestures to the line of cold corpses beside you. "These pirates killed her." He does not meet your gaze as he lowers himself to your level, his white cap covering his eyes. One strong hand grips your shoulder tightly and he's getting blood over your shirt. Also, his palm is still hot from the magma. "Your mother is gone, [Y/N]."_

...

You wake up feeling distressed. You've not had a dream about your mother for a long time, even if it was about her death at the hands of pirates a long time ago. In fact, her death was shortly after your mark appeared. You've grown up without her. She didn't see you past your eighth birthday, didn't see you start marine academy, didn't see you graduate, when you were given your own ship and crew, or see you off at your first voyage. She will never meet who you're dating, see you get married...she will never meet her grandchildren nor will she see you grow old. It's been a long time. Your memory of your mother is growing hazy and after her death, you saw your father less and less, as he focused on hunting pirates to the point where it became an obsession.

One of the last things your mother did before the pirates attacked your village was warn you about the mark on your arm. The name 'Gol' was the name of the notorious pirate king, Gol D. Roger. It's not a common surname although there are a few people in the world with it. Your soulmate could be a relative or his, or it could be his son, but there is no record in history about Gol D. Roger having a wife and son. Also, everyone knew the pirate king as 'Gold Roger'. How your mother knew that his name was actually 'Gol' with the 'D' completely separate, you weren't sure.

If Ace is related to Roger somehow, he must bear some resemblance to the pirate king. The only thing they have in common is their dark hair. The pirate king was executed way before your birth and you have only seen one photo of him and that was before his execution where the two marine guards stood with their blades in front of him and you could see that Roger was a rather dark, frightful man. Ace is nothing like that. He's a ray of sunshine. His face always lights up whenever he sees you, he greets you with wide grins, he's always cheerful. Or maybe that's just because he's like that towards you.

Speaking of Ace, he's sleeping peacefully.

He has been spooning you all night and all of a sudden you can feel his arm tightening around your waist. His arm's really sturdy and warm... his grip on you is possessive and affectionate, yet... needy in a way. You're not complaining. During the night the temperature drops considerably so Ace is your only means of keeping you warm. He's preventing you from falling victim to pneumonia. Essentially, he's keeping you alive.

"[Y/N]...what's wrong..." You hear him mutter and you know he's awake.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. Again." You utter, "Did you sleep?"

"Yeah."

Oh god, you feel so guilty now. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

What a shitty night.

First, Ace couldn't sleep and now you had a nightmare. This island freaking sucks. You want to go home. Also, your hands are stinging with pain. Untangling yourself from his embrace by lifting his arm off you, you roll up to sit and the marine coat falls off your shoulders and to your lap. Glancing around yourself, you then settle your gaze on your shaking hands. Your hands are burning and you're panting, brows dotted with sweat. Not to mention, you're in your underwear and you're literally sleeping with a man who is a pirate but he hasn't taken advantage of you one bit. However, you're not friends, you're not lovers. If word spreads in the academy, you're probably going to get lynched.

Ace groans and moves to lie on his back, rubbing his eyes briefly before he opens them and looks up at the sky. The moon hangs high, the stars twinkling. You can hear the sea, the waves crashing against the shore gently. When he flicks his glance to you, he immediately notices how distressed you are, sits up beside you abruptly by pushing himself off using the back of his elbows and he quickly grabs your coat, draping it over your shoulders to prevent you from growing cold. "What's wrong?" He murmurs as he starts buttoning up your coat and when he looks up at you, your faces are close, mere inches away.

"My...my hands." You mutter as you slide your gaze to him. His hair is a mess, sticking up in all sorts of directions. Most likely, your hair is the same as well because Ace starts to smooth his large hand over the top of your head. Since you woke up, you've been in constant pain...you have no medicine, no painkillers, no real form of first aid. Nothing.

"Ah, I know what to do." Reaching for your hands now, he takes both of your tiny hands in his and clutches them tightly. The heat from his hands provides relief at once. Then he quickly lifts your hands to his lips and presses them over your knuckles and your fingers over and over again before giving your palm a soothing rub. "Is this any good?"

You nod, wincing.

"Better?"

"...Yeah."

Ace grins before he unleashes a flurry of kisses over the base of your palms again and you're blushing like crazy, and when he pulls away he's still holding onto your hands and he gingerly places them over his warm freckled cheeks and it looks weird, because now you're cupping his face, but you know he's doing his very best to keep you warm and your heart pounds furiously. He adds, "I heard you talking in your sleep. Were you having a bad dream? Do you want to talk about it?"

You cringe, having absolutely no idea beforehand that you were a sleep-talker. Shaking your head, you wonder what comfort talking about the past would bring you. "No, I'm fine."

There's a brief silence as Ace keeps your hands over his face, waiting for the pain to goes away, although he also turns to kiss your palms every now and then which causes you to bite your lip. Finally, you retreat your hands from his grip when the pain subsides and inwardly sigh with relief, "Thanks Ace, I feel a lot better. Um... I kind of...want to be alone right now." Without another word, you hastily stand up and make your way up the hill nearest the camp, grabbing your katanas along the way.

"Where are you going?" He asks.

The hill that overlooks the horizon is your destination and it provides some solace. You head up the steep slope that will lead to a look out point and once you arrive you're greeted with a marvelous view of the large, stretch of dark but calm, shimmering ocean and the sky that's full of stars and the full moon high above. You find a good spot and seat yourself down on the soft grass, fixing your katanas to stand beside you on your left and right. You always place one to stand at each side, and Curie once said to you it's psychological...it's a defensive and offensive mechanism... it's a wall. Regardless, you feel safer with your weapons. You are never alone without them. You've had them for a long time too. They're a gift from Momonga after completing his tutelage. He trained you for years... and it was years of hardcore, brutal training. It was a proud moment when he bestowed you with the blades and you swore to yourself that you will never forget his teachings. They're your prized possessions, made out of the strongest steel known to man and crafted by the finest artisans in the world, He's taught you well. You had risen to become one of the most vicious, violent Captains in the ranks. You wanted to avenge your mother. Hunt down all the pirates in the world.

None of that matters right now though.

As a marine, this is the life you're destined for, the route you're going down. Since Momonga trained you the moment you arrived at the academy when you were a kid, you've followed his doctrine without a doubt. He's trained you well and he's trained you to use your strength and skills to eradicate all pirates in this world...and this is how it has ended up? You are with a pirate right now...

Perhaps Curie was right; you were unknowingly saving yourself for Ace. Urgh, why did he have to turn out to be a pirate? You're rather conflicted right now. The one thing you do know is, you do not hate Ace and you don't want to arrest him or kill him. You're rather fond of him now, even if he's a pirate. He doesn't quite act like one. He doesn't act like the textbook pirate. He's not rough and gruff and scary at all...he's the opposite; he's really sweet and gentle. When you relay that in your head the more it doesn't make sense and it frustrates you. Does this mean Momonga and Sakazuki are wrong about pirates? Is Ace some kind of deviant?

You hear him shuffling from camp down below before he gets up and dusts himself; he looks up at you from his spot below but you don't notice him since you're stuck in your thoughts. Ace is oblivious to your inner turmoil. After he saved you from Brutus, you've been feeling kind of torn. When you compare Brutus to Ace, of course the difference is so glaringly obvious. Therefore, you arrive to one general conclusion - Momonga and Sakazuki are wrong. One cannot generalise all pirates. The Whitebeards are clearly different. Marco and Mr Thatch, Whitebeard himself, and the rest of the nurses were nice people. Ace is unconditionally kind to you.

Not all pirates are bloodthirsty rapists and killers. Brutus is an example, but Ace isn't like that at all. He clearly cares for you, that's for sure.

But you have been taught for years that pirates were the evil on this planet...how can you be swayed so easily? However, it goes to show that you're adapting, you're understanding, you're open... You contemplate to yourself with a hand to your chin. _But I have been stuck here with no other human contact aside from Ace and it's human nature to crave the presence of others. I'm probably feeling this way due to the fact that myself and Ace are the only inhabitants of this island. I have no bearings and I cannot survive without Ace but I also cannot rely on him all the time. Getting worried because the longer I spend time on this island, I might end up going insane, and doing crazy stuff like painting a handprint on a ball and naming it 'Wilson' if we don't get rescued soon. We still haven't explored the rest of the island and considering I've seen many Sea Kings aplenty and other fascinating creatures... would not be surprised if there's something like a smoke monster or some sort inhabiting this place either._

Following those interesting thoughts, it occurs to you that at this moment Ace and you are just two people. It's just the two of you here. Forget who is a marine and who is a pirate...who is what and who is who. You're all just human after all.

Against your control, you emit a loud yawn. You have no sense of time but it must be really late.

"Hey, [Y/N], are you hungry? I can go fishing again." Ace calls up to you.

You peer over the ledge to see him standing a short distance from you at the base of the hill. He really likes fishing, probably because he just goes into the water, increases his body temperature and kills everything in it. "Ace, it's late. If you go out now, it'll be dangerous."

"But you might be hungry."

"I'm not hungry."

"Thirsty?"

"No, I'm not thirsty either."

"...Come back to sleep?" He suggests.

"Not yet. Give me five minutes."

"Okay."

...

When he thinks five minutes have passed, Ace goes to collect her; he gets up and heads towards the direction of the hill she ventured off to. He finds her sitting near the ledge cross-legged and once he approaches her, he squats beside her to peer at her inquisitively, discovering that her eyes are closed and she's gently clasping her hands in her lap.

He can't tell if she's meditating or not but he whispers, "Psst, [Y/N]...wanna come back to bed with me?" Sounds wrong if misinterpreted but it's truly what's on his mind. He wants to spoon her again. She's soft and tiny in his arms and she feels just right. She's also really cold... like when he held her hands earlier and he realised she was rather frigid and he isn't sure if she's aware of that herself, so he wants to keep her warm.

There's no response from her.

He prods at her arm, where he can see that the soulmate mark is beginning to heal and his name has reappeared. He feels proud to see his name on her arm. The old man was right. There is someone out there for him after all, and hopefully one who will accept him for who he is.

When she starts to nod off, leaning forwards slightly, he chuckles under his breath. She's fallen asleep. Gathering her swords, he tucks them into his belt for now and scoops her up and into his arms, letting her head rest against his chest. He hears her groan slightly before she rubs her cheek against him and wraps her arms around his neck. He stiffens all over at once. This is new. Ace throws a quick glance to the girl but she doesn't budge. She's definitely asleep. He begins the journey down the hill and towards their camp silently, trying to evade any bumps along the way to avoid waking her up. Seems like the both of them have had a fair share of difficulty in terms of sleeping but since it's her first night on the island, it's to be expected. Luckily for him, she's fast asleep the entire time, eyes closed, breathing gently. She even continues to rub her cheek against him, reminding him thoroughly of a cat. A smile appears on his face when he looks at her sleeping form. She looks so peaceful right now, so very vulnerable and helpless. It's a side to her which he hasn't seen before.

Once he arrives at camp, the sheet lays there waiting for them, which he weighed down with rocks on all four corners to prevent it from being blown away by the wind; he lowers her down gently over the sheet, carefully peeling her arms off his neck but once he removes her arms, she reaches for him once more, wrapping her arms around him, burying her face into his nape. Hm, she must be clingy deep inside despite her outward cold demeanour. Taking her arms gently, he tries to pry her fingers off one by one but she has a grip of steel on him. He can't get her off.

"[Y/N]?" He mutters, but she doesn't reply. With no choice, Ace settles himself over to lie on the sheet with her beside him and she responds, rolling over so she's now snuggling up to him, hitching her left leg over his. Ace freezes up entirely as she rests her hand over one shoulder, burying her head under the base of his chin.

He was going to spoon her, but hey, this works too.

...

It's the seagulls that wake you up with their incessant crying and you know it's roughly dawn. The sun's slowly rising from the horizon, the sky is streaked with a blend of orange and red and there's wispy strips of thin clouds in the atmosphere, bathing the island in a tranquil, dim glow. Gentle waves casually roll over the shore and back. The wind is cold, picking at your hair and prickling your skin. You emit a quiet yawn as you stir awake, slowly opening your eyes to discover that on this occasion he's on his back and you're lying on top of him with your left arm curled over his shoulder and your face buried deep in his neck whilst his lips are pressed near your forehead. Your legs are tangled together, your left leg strewn over one muscular thigh. His scent is all over you. As he breathes steadily, you rise with him as he has his arms wrapped around you tightly in return, one arm resting securely around your waist and the other draped over your back, in particular, his hand is over your wound. He's been keeping the pain at bay during the entire night.

Suddenly, the arm over your back shifts and he moves his large hand to plop over your head, stroking your hair. "Hey..." He murmurs, and you peer out of his nape to see Ace glancing down at you. He's awake. How long he was actually awake for, you're not sure.

"Hey." You mumble groggily in response. You have to admit; this is a very comfortable position and you want to just fall right back to sleep. You groan lightly as Ace proceeds to rub your shoulders gently. You're still half-asleep, so you close your eyes and return to bury your nose in the inviting column of his neck, sighing. He traces lazy circles on your shoulder with his thumb, whilst his other arm returns to your waist, pulling you a little closer to him.

Soon, you find yourself falling asleep once again.

...

 **Later**.

" _DAI ENKAI: ENTEI!_ "

From your safe spot, at least five hundred feet away from the shore, you watch as Ace checks his surroundings before unleashing the most gigantic ball of fire you've ever seen in your life and sends it hurtling into the sky. You watch with widened eyes as the flames dance around in a tame fashion; it fills the entire atmosphere and the temperature increases drastically. Even though you're far away, you can definitely feel it. It's an attempt to create an SOS message, one which Ace said the Whitebeards would know because they'll realise it's him, but at the same time you're worried it might attract unnecessary attention.

It's probably noon now; you have no sense of what the actual time is although Ace keeps count as the days pass by drawing tally marks on a rock near the shore and maybe you'll build a sundial later but right now you're definitely sure you and Ace slept in this morning because you were so comfortable in his arms and he didn't get up either, so the both of you remained blissfully asleep in a pile of tangled limbs until the temperature rose again as the day progressed and it became too hot to simply lie down and do nothing any longer, forcing the both of you to get up and do something productive, such as eating breakfast to fill your hungry bellies.

As the fireball dissipates under Ace's command, you also spot a few grey clouds lurking in the sky - a big contrast to the beautiful orange-red hue you had woken up to this morning. Looks like a storm will brew soon and judging by the distance, maybe later on during the night and things will be bad if you don't prepare. Once the flame ball disappears entirely, you hop off the rock you were sitting on and return to the direction of camp where Ace greets you cheerfully.

"Will it work?" You ask.

"Yep!" There's a sack beside him which he picks up and as he slings it over one muscled shoulder, it rustles with various tools inside. "[Y/N], I'm gonna head out now."

"Okay, be careful."

"Will do."

You wave him off and he's waving and grinning at you in return before he heads into the trees; he's decided to go hunting and although you're a little reluctant in case he falls victim to another narcoleptic attack, he promised you earlier that he wouldn't fall asleep. Hah, yeah, right. Unfortunately, it's not the first time he's promised not to fall asleep and ended up doing so anyway. Oh well, there is nothing else you can do to change his mind since he's quite dead set on his task right now. Empty promises aside because Ace cannot control his narcolepsy no matter what, you watch anxiously as he disappears into the jungle and you're on your own at camp at the seashore. It occurs to you that you're beginning to feel lonely and you wish he'd return soon.

Glancing up, the grey clouds are looming closer and closer.

...

"I'm back."

You're hanging up the white sheet over a fallen palm tree trunk when he returns with a wide grin. Oh thank god he's back. You were beginning to get worried. "Ace! What took you so long? Where did you go?"

"Just to the other side of the island. I got us some meat." He says as he approaches you. He's carrying a massive dead and stiff boar over his back and he's covered in leaves, twigs, blood and gore. You reach over and start picking off coarse hairs and the twigs and leaves off his shoulders as he watches you fuss over him silently with a grin. He even leans in towards you so you can stand on tiptoe in order to pull some leaves that's stuck in his hair.

When you're finished, he settles the dead animal over the ground, unsheathes his dagger before he starts to skin it. Ace is really handy to have around and since he's mentioned that he's been a victim of a shipwreck before, the guy's gone through it all so he's a natural. Thanks to his devil fruit powers (which is possibly the best one in the entire universe in this case), he can make fires no problem, he can use his flames to boil water, he can catch fish, he can cook the fish. Bloody hell, he's completely sorted...he's a pro at this. Whilst you watch him skin and gut and it's a bit messy, you move away from the sheet to work on chipping away at a coconut which you had cut down from a tree. You settle it in your lap and there's the water jug along with a bucket of water beside you. Your hands are recovering and whilst Ace doesn't want you working or even lifting a finger, you didn't sit through one entire semester of 'Deserted Island Survival Skills 201' for nothing so you showed him your wounds which are clearing up and he's a bit stunned to see how fast you are healing but because of this, it means you're ready to assist in any way. Therefore, you're both hard at work as you sit beside each other.

"Hey, can I get some of that?" You ask, and he neatly trims a slimy piece off and hands it to you. "Thanks."

"What are you doing?" He mutters as he glances at you from the corner of his eye.

"Making soap." Once you've got your materials, Ace watches as you put the fat inside with the oil inside the coconut and start mixing and moulding it together with your fingers until you get a sloppy mixture, fashioning it into a slimy ball. Turning to him, you say, "Can you heat this up to approximately two hundred and eighty degrees please?"

"Uh, sure." Ace is quick to comply; he drops everything to tend to you, placing his dagger down to turn his hand into a flame and you watch as Ace heats the ball up and it turns solid, shiny and smooth in seconds.

"Thanks." You say again as you take the ball of soap out of his hands and the first thing you wash are your dirty bandages. You load them into the bucket of water and you start washing them, being mindful that Ace is watching you as you scrub and pause, lift them up, inspect and scrutinise for any spots you've missed, before you continue scrubbing again. Once that's done, you wring the bandages free of excess water, empty the dirty water over a random patch of grass and refill it with clean water from the jug. Turning to him, you say, "Do you want to wash your clothes first?"

His face grows red and he immediately looks away. "Maybe later."

You'll wash your clothes then. You're still wearing the marine coat and you want to wash your bra and panties because there's a bit of a stink now so you ensure your coat is buttoned up fully to your chin before grabbing your panties and you rise to stand before him, bending down slightly to pull them off your hips and down your legs and Ace stares up at you, witnessing you wiggle and edge the panties out from underneath your coat and he sees the dainty material slinking down your thighs and you continue to pull them down your legs and once they drop to your feet in a crumpled pile of black and lace, he swallows down loudly and he quickly looks away, his face is a shade of pink as you dump them into the bucket. Your bra is next, so you reach behind you to unclasp the hook and then slip out of it one arm at a time before you take it off entirely. Ace still cannot look you in the eye as you sit down and put your bra into the bucket and rub it with some of the coconut oil slash pig fat soap you'd just made. It's not ideal being completely naked save for the coat but at least your clothes will be cleaner. After giving them a good scrub, you move to stand, picking up the bucket. Ace watches as you strut past him and although the coat is long enough, he still can't get over the fact that you're wholly nude underneath the coat and he gulps as he glances at your legs. He continues to watch as you head over to a tree to hang your clothes beside the white sheet, your bare feet crunching over the sand.

You'll ask him for his underpants later.

...

Your hunch was correct; a while later when Ace is in the middle of cooking pieces of boar for dinner, huge drops of rain suddenly pummel the both of you from out of nowhere. The fire extinguishes and Ace quickly puts away the boar pieces into the tub and puts a sheet over it to cover it whilst you run to grab your still-damp underwear and the sheet to hang it elsewhere. Once you've both completed your tasks, you regroup and Ace grabs your hand and leads you towards the direction of a tree with massive leaves that offer some sort of shelter. You sit down, frowning, and Ace copies your action, seating himself beside you; however the leaves don't offer help much at all and raindrops still manages to slip through and both yourself and Ace are forced to stick extremely close unless you risk being exposed to the torrential downpour. There's certainly no space for two people to sit side by side under the tree so Ace moves out to let you get the most of the shelter whilst he's being pelted with rain.

"What are you doing?" You have to yell over the bad weather in order to be heard.

"There's no space for the two of us." Ace shouts back.

"I know that, but you can't stay out there." You reply, and your point is proven when Ace suddenly sneezes and rub his nose. Where the rain hits him, he's sizzling a little, wafts of smoke emitting from his body. You're worried but Ace suddenly grabs something from the side and proceeds to place it over your head.

You blink as you remove it, holding it gingerly in your hands. It's a handmade, woven, wide-brimmed hat similar to his. "This..."

"I made it for you!" He exclaims with another wide grin, "It's not much but it'll keep you dry. I learned how to make it when I visited Wano."

The handiwork is surprisingly good. He seems to have made it out of leaves from the palm trees and it's sturdy. This will definitely keep you dry to an extent. Clutching the thoughtful gift Ace has bestowed you with, you swallow down. You can feel heat in your cheeks. "T-thanks, Ace. But... you're still getting wet."

"I'll be fine; I never get unwell or feel cold anyway, but you might end up with a fever."

You can't help but get the feeling that Ace doesn't actually care what happens to him which might explain why he can be reckless at some times; you glance around but there are no other trees nearby that will offer the same shelter like this one. It is a small spot but you're sure you can work something out and you beckon him over. "I have an idea, come over here."

Ace wordlessly inches closer and you move out from your spot and take his arm, promptly seating him down in your previous spot. "What are you doing?" He asks, but when you proceed to sit and settle in his lap, facing him, he goes silent immediately, his face growing red.

Reaching above your heads, you grab a large leaf and pull it forwards over the both of you. You keep the hat close by your side and you tug on one leaf, ensuring it covers you and you turn to him, "Now we'll both be dry." You mutter under your breath as you settle the leaf in place; it doesn't move so you return to sit in his lap and scan your surroundings; it's dull and misty all over. The rain is heavy and relentless. The beach has completely disappeared and there's nothing but drab, grey fog before you. The island has suddenly become unwelcoming and chilling in appearance.

He observes you looking up and around until there's the blinding flash of lightning nearby, followed by the unearthly, ground-shattering bellow of thunder and the lightning startles the both of you; you end up backing further into his embrace without realising, causing him to chuckle. "It's just thunder and lightning." He says.

"Yeah, but it sounded really close." You rebuke. Ace responds by wrapping his arms around your shoulders and pulls you close to him, resting his chin atop your head. Right now, you are thankful he is here for you.

Together, you sit in the little spot under the large tree, waiting for the storm to pass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, happy new year! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, where reader and Ace are so touchy feely with each other. Please see below for notes:
> 
> 1\. Oh yay! Someone has requested lemons so I will write something with warnings prior for anyone who is uncomfortable.  
> 2\. I have no WiFi and typed this up using my notes on my iPhone. Sorry for any errors!!!!  
> 3\. ‘The ball called Wilson’ and ‘Smoke Monster’ part is homage to Castaway and Lost, which is about people stranded on islands.  
> 4\. I googled up “how to make soap if you’re stuck on a deserted island” and it’s actually much complex than what was depicted in this chapter.


	9. He's my Soulmate, Not Yours

**HE'S MY SOULMATE, NOT YOURS**

**...**

**...**

A week or so has passed.

During the day and you would spend the hours fishing, gathering food or doing laundry. At night, you have become accustomed to taking baths and sharing the sheet with Ace. You would lie on your side and he'd end up rolling over to you so close that you would find yourself waking up in the middle of the night nudged all the way over to the edge. However, it never bothered you in the slightest for he would always keep you warm and safe, whether it was from the rain or thunder or pesky mosquitoes. He would always hold you, spoon you from behind and he'd entangle his arm around your waist protectively, pulling you up against his solid chest. You never questioned what this arrangement was but it was a quiet, unspoken agreement. Yourself nor Ace had no qualms anyway; in fact, you recall one night where you had spent hours talking to each other and you fell asleep right there and then in his arms.

In fact, you've gotten so used to either being spooned by him or sleeping on top of him, it's not unusual that you wake up this particular morning due to a warm hand that's repeatedly sliding up and down your bare left thigh as you lay on top of him, and as you stir the hand removes itself entirely and you're back to being cold. "Ace... what are you doing?"

Opening your eyes groggily, you peek out from his neck, glance down at his hand and then look at him; he quickly averts his glance to you and you can see that his cheeks are a little pink. "Ah... sorry, I wasn't..."

"…Its fine... I don't mind..." You mumble; you're still half asleep.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah..." And you return to snuggle against him, closing your eyes.

"O-okay." You hear him swallow loudly.

It goes silent between the two of you again as you adjust yourself so you're closer to him and Ace pulls the coat around you a little tighter before his hand returns to rest on your exposed leg which you have flung over his hips (it's a habit of yours now). Your ear is directly over his chest and you can hear his heart pounding a little faster, the hand on your thigh becoming a little clammy. He's pretty nervous for some reason and you wonder if he's ever been near a girl or touched a girl before. His hand wanders a little aimlessly before he starts from under your knee and he hoists your leg even further up his hip, hiking your leg up higher so he can run his hand all over your flesh. He lets his fingers slide up and under your thigh, causing you to shiver from his touch. The moment he reaches your ass, which is covered by your coat, you feel his fingers dig into your flesh slightly under the material but then he stops and returns to slide his hand back down the length of your leg. You earnestly wouldn't have minded if he decided to pet you there, either. He stops again and although you have your eyes closed, you can feel his eyes on you, as though he's expecting you to wake up. You're unmoving though, completely at ease. His hand promptly returns to your leg and he continues exploring for a while as you sleep.

...

Later on in the afternoon, you are sorting out random fruits to eat for lunch and its a normal tranquil day until Ace bursts through the trees, startling you as he rushes out. He had gone hunting again and although you weren't too keen on him going off on his own all the time in case of narcoleptic fits, he had returned on this occasion empty-handed for you saw no dead animal perched on his back. However, here he is dashing up to you with twigs and leaves in his hair and he's covered all over in mud and it makes you wonder what on earth did he get up to and what happened to him this time; however, he looks so happy at this precise moment, gleaming brightly and with his hands cupped together as he approaches you. He has this charm about him which you find kind of sweet. When he stops before you, he even skids on his heels, dust cloud forming.

"[Y/N], look what I found!" He exclaims with a big grin on his face; he's panting slightly, too.

"What?" You ask, and a part of you wonder if its either a) a frog, b) a centipede, c) a snake or d) a big spider which he will end up putting on your head for laughs (which you won't find funny at all, of course), and now you're really worried what it may be but then he opens up his hands to reveal two tiny snoozing snails - one pink and one blue, both with matching white shells. They're Den Den Mushi. Your eyes widen as you throw an alarmed glance to him. "Where did you find these?"

"They were on the two dead bodies!" Ace exclaims again, and your shoulders slump because his revelation sounded...well, a little _too_ cheerful for your liking.

Naturally, your expression scrunches up with disgust. "Ew, Ace, put them back. That's just gross..."

"No, we can use them!"

"They're just babies. They probably can't even hold a full-blown conversation for a minute, and there's no proper gear." The pessimist in you retorts, but Ace is unaffected and lets them down on the ground and you both squat before them, peering curiously. The snails appear oblivious to you, still dozing away. You gently prod at the pink one with your fingertip. It's just a wild animal right now. Maybe it's best to leave them as they are...

"There is gear. Look." Ace promptly slides his hand down and reaches into the back pockets of his shorts and fumbles around, bringing out tiny antennas, rotary dials and other strange utensils which you pluck off his palms.

Rubbing your chin, you twirl one minuscule antenna between your fingers, holding it up under the sunlight. "I recognise this one. It goes here, I think." Picking up a tiny metal box with a slot, you plug it in and then pick up another piece, and another. Soon, you are busy putting and fixing together the pieces and voila, you have a finished product - what looks like a tiny transmitter sits in your hand, ready to be used.

Impressed, Ace watches as you work on making a second mini transmitter using the leftover bits and bobs. Altogether it only took you a few minutes to piece everything together. "Did you learn that when you were at the academy too?"

You've told him a few things regarding marine academy including their curriculum, and you nod. "Yeah." Ace scoops up the baby pink den den mushi for you and you attach one of the transmitters over its white shell. It jolts awake, startled, and looks around itself before landing it's beady eyes at you and Ace. It lets out a timid squeak and hides back inside it's shell, only its eyeballs are visible as it shakes. "Oh no, we scared it..." You mumble whilst Ace tilts his head round for a better look, and you start stroking the shell. "It's okay, we won't hurt you."

The shell continues to rattle slightly before the snail slowly slides back out and it is wet and slimy in your palm. It looks up at you with soulful, shimmery eyes but otherwise, it appears docile. You gently let it back down on the ground where it slithers around the blue snail which you pick up next and place the second transmitter on. The blue one doesn't wake up so Ace slips it into his rear pocket to which you raise a brow.

"...Really, Ace? You're gonna keep it in _there_?"

He nods.

"Will it even be able to breathe?"

"It'll be fine."

You sigh and shake your head, before you scoop the pink snail up and you both head over to sit down on an awaiting sheet (not the same one you use for sleeping, no), which will serve as your picnic mat for lunch. Ace takes the snail back out of his pocket as he sits down beside you and lays it over a rock whilst you put down the pink snail beside it. They don't seem bothered by your presences at all, nor do they attempt to escape. It's a good thing that den den mushi are harmless and indifferent to humans.

"Should we try them out now?" Ace asks, peering curiously at the snails.

"Yeah."

"Wait."

"What is it?" You ask, and he pulls out a miniature, handmade straw hat that looks like his and the one he made for you the other day, and he fixes it over the pink snail carefully. He's really been surprising you lately... "Ace, when did you even find the time to make that?"

"Heh." is his reply, before he picks up his blue snail whilst you marvel the handiwork.

"How did you even manage to make one so small?"

"I'm good with my hands." He says, and you unintentionally emit a sound that is similar to someone choking to death and he shoots you a confused look. You didn't realise you had a rather dirty mind, and he adds, "I'll go all the way over there to try it out."

You can only nod weakly but there's a prominent blush on your face. "S-sure, I'll wait for your call." You watch as Ace sprints a distance away from you until he's resembling a little dot in your view, standing on the far side of the beach. Your pink snail with the hat looks up at you before it starts trembling and then its mouth moves:

" _Perepereperepere_." It squeaks. Whoa, you have an incoming call!

You push down on a random button. At first, there's some fuzzy, garbled noises resembling static. "Hello? Ace?" You say loudly. There's still nothing except crackling static, "Can you hear me, over? Testing, testing. One, two, three."

And then your pink snails starts imitating the pirate, jumping up and down in your palm energetically and grinning widely. " _It works, [Y/N], it works!_ "

"O-okay, that's good..." You wonder what else you can say, "...Uh, bye."

After you hang up, Ace sprints back to camp and settles down beside you with his blue snail, which is sleeping again. Glancing at your pink snail, it's also started to sleep as well. The five second conversation must have taken a toll on it (hah, so you were right after all). You both let the snails sleep and decide to make a start on lunch; together, you begin going through your stash of fruit. You pick out what looks like the most ripest, juiciest apple of the bunch and cut a piece to try it. You're right; it's got a delectable taste as you predicted so you cut a piece for Ace to try too and he leans forwards to take a bite out of it as you hold it up for him.

He chews, then swallows. "That's good."

You smile. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." He confirms as he reaches over and affectionately ruffles your hair. "You're smiling again."

"Are you going to make it a habit to point out every time I smile? I told you before, I don't smile just for anybody." You blurt this out again without thinking twice.

He chuckles. "Just for me, eh?"

You freeze up; he got you good this time! Your cheeks go pink but you don't reply to that; instead, you decide to leave him hanging and quietly cut out a few tiny pieces for the snails before eating some yourself. Ace starts cutting up some fruit too using his dagger, which he shares with you. As you munch, you can tell from the corner of your eye that he's staring at you and you notice he's been looking at you in a different way. There's a hidden depth to his gaze recently, full of longing and want...and it's growing stronger and stronger the more time you spend with him on this island. Ace is easy to read... he's not complicated at all. He wears his heart on a sleeve, which is not bad because you've come to like that about him and he's a very honest individual, and you find yourself truly appreciating that. You hate people who are fake and beat around the bush. Ace is nothing like that at all. He's straight forward, simple. Probably a bit too naive compared to you but oh well. You find it kind of cute that he isn't subtle when he's looking at you. He'll just stare at you relentlessly and unabashedly.

So when you turn to him, he blinks as he snaps out of his staring stupor and at the same time, the dagger in his hand slices into his thumb by accident. "Ow." He grunts, wincing.

"Ace!" You exclaim as your eyes widen. He's bleeding, which is strange because you thought he was immune to physical attacks. Nevertheless, you scoop his large palm into yours and keep his fingers splayed out and a thin trail of fresh red blood drips down from the cut. "You need to be more careful..." You mutter, as you take a clean bandage from the side which you were supposed to be using later tonight - but you use it to wrap around his finger and he's staring at you again as you tend to him.

When you look up, you find that your faces are close and despite the cut on his thumb, his hand clamps around yours firmly; you look at him questioningly but he's leaning closer to you, his lips just a fraction away from yours. "[Y/N]...can I - "

You interrupt him because you have spotted something over the horizon directly behind him. Squinting your eyes, it looks a lot like a person... "There's someone over there." Without a second to spare, you get up immediately, gently pulling your hand out of his and he throws a glance at his empty palm and he looks a little dejected but nonetheless he follows your action, rising from his spot to follow you to the seashore.

Indeed, a body has washed ashore... it's a human being, and it's a female. Together, the both of you approach the unmoving figure. She has sleek and shiny, long blond hair, milky white skin and she lies on her stomach face-down, half buried by seaweed, rocks and sand. She's unconscious and she has no legs but a fish tail. It's long, scaly and gold, like the goldfish you had when you were five and killed by accident due to neglect and later flushed down the toilet. The more you look at her, the more you realise:

Wait a minute, isn't this the same mermaid who swam off with Ace...?

Uh oh. This doesn't bode well to you for some reason...maybe it's not too late to fling her back into the water... Hold up! What an un-marine way of thinking. You live and fight to protect, right? Darn it. Darn it all to heck.

Therefore, you squat down beside the mermaid, inspecting her carefully and curiously. Ace seems reluctant to touch her so you reach for her and turn her over and check if she's breathing - to your relief, she is - and you notice that she's unnaturally beautiful with a prominent, sharp chin and long eyelashes and not to mention, her breasts are huge, covered by a flimsy red bikini top that looks like its threatening to fall off completely. Ace gets an eyeful too and all of a sudden you decide you're not liking the way he's staring at her, particularly at her exposed chest. You abruptly aim a sharp glower at him as a warning and when he catches you glaring at him, he looks away from the mermaid immediately to focus on pulling her out of the sand. It's not like he can't look but you don't exactly appreciate it. Looking away from Ace, you lift up one sinewy, slippery arm and apply two fingers over her wrist to check her pulse just in case; it's weak but it's there. Lowering her arm back down to rest by her side, you and Ace exchange a quick glance.

"Is she alive?" He mutters.

You nod. "She's fine." You have never seen a mermaid before considering they live deep underwater and in some mysterious place known as Fish Man island and not many people have seen one in general, so seeing one up close is a strange sight indeed. Their general physiology and anatomy (or at least the top half) is identical to humans so you know she's relatively fine. However, you don't have to try and wake her up because her eyes flutter open and they're big, waif-like and green and suddenly with one almighty push, you're stunned by the strength of this mermaid as she brutally shoves you out of her way and you go spiralling to the side; with you out of the picture, she springs up and reaches for Ace.

"Ace! You're safe!" The mermaid exclaims loudly in relief.

Ace blinks wide-eyed whilst you land face-first into the dirt and sand. "Er, what are you - "

"Don't you remember me?"

It seems they are acquaintances somehow. You lift your head up, coughing slightly, and you can only watch in silence with a knot in your gut but there's an expression of utter confusion on Ace's handsome face; he looks pretty lost too... and when the mermaid wraps her arms around him, rubbing her face against his bare chest, your jaw drops. He draws a blank as he immediately attempts to untangle her arms off him. "No, I don't remember."

The mermaid pouts sadly as she continues latching on. "Ace, how could you forget? I saved your life!"

Welp, she's clearly okay.

Once he's freed himself from her grip, Ace hastily goes to help you up by grabbing your arm and dusting you free of sand all over but your expression is dark and murderous as you're not liking this one bit. "And who are you?" You demand. Steam is practically billowing out of your ears.

"Who are you?" The mermaid finally turns and snaps at you.

"I asked you first."

"I'm Perrie. Happy now? Want to answer my question? Who are you and what are you to Ace?"

"What do you mean who am I and what am I to Ace? I'm his soulmate." You declare as you point to yourself, jabbing a thumb to your chest and as she does a minute stretch, it's then you notice the black mark on her belly that says ' **Trafalgar D. Water Law** '. The name sounds awfully familiar to you. Hmm…isn't that the name of the Captain of the _Heart Pirates_?

You burst out of your thoughts when you notice the mermaid is looking at you up and down. She's sizing you up! "Soulmate?" She says in a deadpan manner, not impressed at all.

Your brows furrow tightly in response. Just what is she looking at? "Yes!"

However, the mermaid ignores you completely and turns to Ace with a sweet smile, "Ace, please be my soulmate! I've been looking for you for so long!"

What the actual frickety fuck! Looks like your soulmate is highly coveted by members of the opposite sex after all. It's probably those bulging muscles of his, the windswept hair, his towering frame and his glistening six pack. It doesn’t help that he’s also incredibly built with the physique of an Adonis, the exact portrait of a Greek God. Who wouldn't want a piece of that? Urgh, you knew you should've told him to put a goddamn shirt on when you had the chance and you mentally kick yourself. Bloody hell, you have never regretted something so badly in your life before - you regret going over to the mermaid to see if she was alive... Whilst Ace appears stunned and starts spluttering, you quickly move in front of him. The need to protect what is yours and what belongs to you roars into life in your system. Furious, you bark at Perrie the mermaid, "It says right there that your soulmate is 'Trafalgar D. Water Law'!" The name is clear as day on her skin, just on her lower ribs.

Perrie the mermaid retorts angrily to your comment. "What's your deal? I have the right to choose!"

She makes a valid point but it sounds like she's already met her soulmate. "What's wrong with Trafalgar D. Law?"

" _What's wrong with him?_ He's a complete psychopath, that's what's wrong with him! I don't like him one bit! He tried to dissect me! And he tried to cut my head off too! He's scary, mean, cold and he's got too much guyliner. I like Ace better! I saw him on that ship during the storm and instantly fell in love. Ace, be my soulmate, please?"

You gnash your teeth in fury. "Just because you don't like your soulmate doesn't mean you go after someone else's! It doesn't work like that! He's my soulmate, not yours!" You yell, before you could help yourself, "Right, Ace?"

Ace is the cause of this. He should do something! However, when you turn to him, you notice that he's engrossed in staring at the mermaid again and she's looking flirtatiously at his direction and although he quickly looks away when he hears himself being addressed, you smack your palm over your forehead as you feel your anger increase tenfold. Typical. You really thought he would be different but no, he's just the same as any regular guy when it comes to girls with pretty faces and big boobs. Wait a minute! You and Ace aren't even an official couple yet. Everything's all in the air right now… oh sure, you take baths and share a sheet, you've kissed etc etc...but at this particular moment, it just seems...grey? How can it get anymore obvious though? Annoyed by the entire situation, you get up to stand, your frown worsening. If he's going to be that way, fine!

He turns to you as he hears you huff under your breath, marching towards the direction of camp. "[Y/N], where are you going? Come back!" He scrabbles up and tries to follow you but Perrie the mermaid clings onto him.

"Ace, no, don't go with her! Stay with me! Come with me to Fish Man Island!"

...

_Stupid mermaid. Stupid Ace..._

Compared to Perrie the mermaid, you feel uncouth and ugly. Very ugly. You don't have her beautiful features - the sharp chin, high cheekbones, big eyes and long lashes. You're so plain and ordinary, like a weed to a flower. It's such an awful, terrible feeling. Your confidence has taken a blow. Urgh, why did she have to show up and ruin everything? You were about to return to camp but something about it frustrates you when you see the white sheet that you share hanging over the tree trunk, the little campfire, the bucket, the jug, the tub of fruit and fish that's meant to be for eating later… there's a few happy memories here, but you don't feel particularly happy right now.

Frowning, you pick up your pink snail which has woken up and looks like it's been waiting for you; cradling it in your palm, you decide to find another place to meditate. "Let's go, Shelly." You couldn't think of another name for it yet so this will have to do.

Meditation heals everything, or at least, it does sometimes. It will help calm you down, that's for sure. You make your way towards the jungle and although you aren't familiar with it at all without Ace, you head deep inside and it's misty, muggy and foggy all over but it doesn't deter you. There's bizarre and downright chilling noises emitting from birds in the trees but you ignore them and find a quieter spot to meditate. A large tree with low hanging branches seems to do the trick so you sit at the base, cross-legged. You place Shelly on a leaf and it goes back to sleep. Your head is hurting because you're confused, angry, bitter. The tightness of your chest is just another indicator of how much you're not in control of your emotions right now...it's as though you can't breathe and you feel sick to the stomach. What is this? You can't explain it. The more you think about what happened at the beach makes your fists curl, your knuckles clenching and crackling. Thinking about Ace and the mermaid literally makes your blood boil. How can you meditate like this?

Shaking your head, you attempt to clear your thoughts by sitting up straight, closing your eyes, taking deep breaths in and out…in and out…

A few minutes pass...

You're beginning to loosen up, to relax, but then...

_Oh god, I left him at the beach with her...they must be talking; what could they be talking about?_

You open your eyes immediately.

_It's been a few minutes, right?_

Uh-oh…this is not good…

_Stop thinking about it!_

You clear your throat, close your eyes again.

_Inner peace...inner peace..._

You are calm...

You are happy...

You are in a happy place...

Imagine a cool breeze...the gentle seashore -

_But what about the way he was looking at her?!_

Your eyes jerk open.

This is bad.

At this rate, you probably aren't going to be able to meditate in peace. Meditation is definitely not happening right now. Rising to stand, you grab the sheath of one of your katanas and pull it free; the blade glistens under the minuscule sunlight that sneaks its way through the thick leaves of the trees and you hold it up, staring at your reflection on the steel, then you begin to viciously navigate it through the air, slicing at empty space, your hand guiding the blade expertly. You weave the blade effortlessly through the air, slashing at the atmosphere. Your hands are beginning to hurt but you welcome the pain. Momonga once told you pain is gain. You channel the pain, the anger, the energy and you close your eyes, brows furrowing. The more you think about Ace and the mermaid fills you with an intense rage and you open your eyes in a snap and swing your blade in a vicious arch; a massive beam of light emits from the steel and cuts into the ground before tearing through a long stretch of trees. A gigantic dust cloud promptly fills the air and the sound of a dozen trees snapping and falling over the ground is deafening. The earth shakes and you're left blinking wide-eyed as your attack leaves numerous colourful birds of all shapes and sizes flying into the air, startled. What the hell…you've never done this much damage before…

It grows silent as you sheathe your sword and you glance around.

Your surroundings aren't familiar to you at all... uh-oh, which way did you come from? What is the right direction back to camp? You don't have the faintest idea... you can't even remember. Nibbling on your bottom lip, you squat down, hugging your knees to your chest and resting your forehead over your kneecaps. You close your eyes, sniffling slightly as you squat in your little spot for what feels like a long time. You can even hear the birds settling back into the remaining trees, chirping again. A lot of time has passed, but then -

" _Pereperepere_ ," Shelly squeaks from the side. " _Perepereperepere_."

You lift your head up, reaching over and pressing down on the button. "...Hello?"

" _[Y/N]?! Where are you? Where did you go?_ " The snail exclaims, eyes wide. It's Ace, of course. He sounds worried.

You emit a heavy sigh. "...I went into the woods. I don't know where I am." Maybe it's a good idea to describe your surroundings. Looking up and around, you add, "There's a lot of trees. I destroyed some by accident."

" _Just stay where you are, I'll come get you!_ "

"Okay."

With that, you hang up glumly; you hope your crappy description will give him some sort of clue for him to come and collect you (even though you're in a jungle full of trees...) and as Shelly returns to its peaceful slumber, you keep it safe in your pocket whilst you sit and wait. Again, you have no sense of how much time has lapsed but you're beginning to get anxious. How will Ace find you? Will he be able to? The woods are large and vast, there is no way he can -

"[Y/N]!"

You leap slightly at the sound of your name being called from out of nowhere and you turn to see Ace standing a distance behind you. "Ace!" You exclaim; you can't help it for you are extremely relieved to see him and you rise to stand, making your way over to him and he heads towards your direction. However, the moment he stops in front of you, strong arms reach forwards and wraps around you, crushing you into his inviting embrace and you're feeling warm and fuzzy again, relishing the sensation of being in his arms. Ace rests the base of his chin over your head, giving you an affectionate squeeze. Ah it feels nice to be in his arms... "How did you find me?" You mutter, closing your eyes briefly. 

When you re-open your eyes to look up, he nudges his head towards the trees you had cut down and grins whilst you cringe slightly.

"Oh." You mumble, before you remember why you had actually decided to storm off and go into the jungle on your own. Pulling yourself free, a frown worms its way on your face as you utter coldly, "Where's the mermaid? I thought you were with her?"

"She left."

"So soon?"

"Yeah."

Good riddance.

"[Y/N], are you mad at me?"

"I'm not mad at you." Any attempt to sound indifferent is extremely difficult, yet you inwardly breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that she is gone. Ace raises a brow and tilts his head slightly as he shoots another quick glance to all the trees you've just destroyed. You add, "Did you talk to her?"

"Yeah."

"About what?"

"I asked her if she knew where we were and she told me we're on Indoro Island in East Blue, so we're actually near my home. She said she could take me there."

"Why didn't you go with her?"

He rubs the back of his head with one hand. "She said she wanted to take me to Fish Man Island first. Be her Fishman for eternity."

"You should've gone with her." is your aloof and dry response.

He blinks blankly at your cold manner, how you brushed him off so easily and impassively. "Why would I do that?"

"Because then you could've found some help. We could've been rescued."

His eyes bulges. "...I didn't think that far ahead." He replies sheepishly, "She, uh... she said if I was to go with her, she would need to kiss me so I could breathe underwater because it's too far away." He says this quite bluntly and there's a brief silence. She needed to kiss Ace so he could breathe underwater?

"Did you do it?"

He shakes his head furiously to convince you. " _No_. I don't like her. I like you, and you're my soulmate, not her. Why would I go with her when you're the one I want to be with?"

Another silence spawns. In response to his confession, heat makes its presence known in your cheeks and you gulp down the lump that's suddenly lodged in your throat. Your heartbeat picks up, beating a hundred times faster that your ribs are beginning to hurt right now. Ace grabs your hands with his and your cheeks feel even hotter than ever before. Embarrassed, you can only bite down on your bottom lip before slowly pulling your hands away from his; you turn away from him and make a move to leave. Your head is scrambled, an abundance of confusing emotions taking you hostage...the longer you stay here, the longer you talk to him and the longer you are around him, the higher the chances are that you might do something you may regret. Therefore, you pull your coat closer to yourself as you step away but Ace follows you closely.

"Wait, [Y/N]. Hear me out first."

You stop, fists curling at your sides, "I know what you're going to say; it's natural that we grow closer because you and I are the only ones on this island. So this...this won't work. At the end of the day, I'm still a marine and you're still a pirate." You manage to croak out, and you turn away again but he seizes your arm and before you can react, his large hands move to the sides of your face and he leans forward, planting his lips over yours in a passionate but messy, sloppy kiss. Your eyes widen as he releases you; he had kissed you quickly, almost impulsively, and he is also quick to retreat. "Ace - " You start, but then you're silenced when he envelopes you in another firm hug. You're helpless, stuck in his hold as he buries his nose into your hair. You remain in his hold for a few seconds until he slowly pulls away and you gaze up at him.

He's waiting for you to do something, to say something, but you remain silent and unmoving; taking your face into his large hands again, he squeezes your cheeks together as he peers down at you, his gray eyes searching yours. "I'm a pirate and you're a marine, so what?"

"I'll spend my days trying to arrest you, that's what."

He pauses briefly, then grins, "You want to lock me up in your dungeon forever?"

You frown, smacking him on the shoulder, but it's enough to make you blush. "I'm serious."

Ace leans closer.

"We can't be together."

His lips are nearing.

You're beginning to waver. "I-it won't - "

He's staring at you intensely now, the tip of his thumb brushing over your bottom lip. It's this haunting close proximity that makes your heart race whenever you have these moments with him.

"Ace, I..."

He nuzzles you affectionately before he presses his lips over yours. It's a longer kiss compared to the first time you kissed when you were on Whitebeard's ship, and it's sweet and gentle and warm and he lets go of you to settle his arms over your waist, pulling you tightly against him. Soft lips claim yours over and over again, and you're struggling with yourself... _fighting_ with yourself to be more precise. You're trying to fight the emotions, the logic that's running your brain into the gutter and sucking you dry. Ideally, you should pull away, but you can't. Ultimately, you simply can't. It's not even because he's holding on too tightly or whatnot. In fact, you could downright refuse and he would respect that. But you're not doing any of the sort. So when you find that your eyes flutter to a close and slowly, very slowly, you gently place your hand against his bare, muscled chest, you know deep down inside. You want this too, and this feels right. Your shoulders slump as you surrender and you're no longer tense, no longer wound up and frustrated; it's a relief. You melt against him and slowly encircle your arms around his neck, slipping your fingers into his hair as you return the kiss, which prompts him to grin before he cups your chin, tilting your face up to him so he can kiss you harder, deeper. Your lips mesh well together, a perfect fit. 

...Even though you are a marine and he is a pirate, none of that matters anymore.

...

You spend the rest of the evening perched in his lap, wrapped up in his arms. There's the campfire and the not-so-comfy sheet, but then there's you and Ace and the full moon, the dark sky and the stars, and there's nothing stopping the both of you from being together and right now everything is the absolute epitome of _perfection._  Your lips are firmly pressed together and you have been kissing passionately for a while now. In fact, it's what you've been doing since you left the woods and returned to camp, hand in hand, of course. You can't stop, it's extremely addicting because it feels so damn good to be in his arms, the feel of his warm lips over yours. Ace holds you tightly against him and he's touching you, his hands exploring and caressing every inch of your curves; even when you pull away for air he follows, grinning as he begins to nibble the corner of your mouth and you can't help but smile as you drape your arms around his neck and he smothers you with little kisses on your cheek, arms tightening around you.

But all good things must come to an end, for you spot this blue blob of light that's approaching the island from over the horizon, and you can see it from the corner of your eye and as you pull away from him, Ace stops too to see what you're looking at - you both glance up to see a marvellous blue Phoenix hovering above you, flapping its wings lazily.

"Yo," says Marco, "How's it going-yoi. What did I miss?"

....

**EXTRA.**

Perrie leaves the island, swimming deep under water. Ace is already taken, which leaves her a little depressed. He has his eyes set on that vicious little marine girl anyway. She is too late. All she wants is a man who will love her and cherish her, not Law, who finds it amusing to decapitate her and keep her fresh head sitting on his countertop or in a glass jar whilst he works, ranging from days to weeks at a time. It’s a shame that he’s more interested in dissecting her and finding out how she can breathe underwater and breathe air, rather than her looks and personality. Perrie swims day and night until she finally finds what she is looking for - a yellow submarine that is chugging through the deepsea quietly and with a smile, she swims towards it.

Arriving at a random rounded, triple glazed window, she taps on the glass and at first there’s no response until a young man in a jumpsuit and hat passes by and spots her. He grins and waves as she gestures to the submarine and he nods and disappears from the porthole. Perrie waits, swimming alongside the submarine until a rounded panel opens on one side and its big enough for her to squeeze in. The doors close behind her as she swims inside and she follows the chute up and breaks out of the water's surface. She finds herself in the pool of a hangar, where a tall man with dark hair covered in a white fur hat stands at the far end, arms crossed over his chest whilst he clutches a nodachi in one hand. The back of his fingers are stamped with tattoos spelling 'DEATH'. Despite his intimidating appearance, beside him is a big white bear donned in a jumpsuit.

She offers the two a big smile and a wave, “Law! Bepo!”

“Welcome back, Perrie!” says the bear cheerfully whilst the man’s stoic expression doesn’t change.

As usual, he's glowering at her and he seems to have even darker circles under his eyes. “I didn’t think you would show your face here again, Perrie-ya.”

“Of course I’d come back! I missed you, my sweet.” She coos. He regards her quietly as she swims towards him and gently rests her elbows over the side of the pool. “Sooo, can I stay here for a few days? I'm tired."

His response is instantaneous. "No."

Huffing at his reply, she adds, "Ohhh, don't be like that. I know I was the one who escaped ....but now I've come back. How about I let you cut my head off? Will that suffice?"

With that, the corner of his lips tug into a smirk and the answer is a curt nod before he gestures to his furry companion. “Bepo.”

Bepo acknowledges with a salute and helps Perrie out of the water; she reaches for him and he hoists her out. Together, the trio disappear into the main quarters, the door closing behind them.

...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pretty long chapter today O_O Although I wonder if it's going too fast, I do hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for the comments, the bookmarks and the kudos!!!! I get seriously happy when I receive/read feedback :) 
> 
> As usual here are the notes to cover:
> 
> 1\. I like Law but I remember the first time I saw him and I saw his shadows under his eyes and I thought he was wearing eyeliner LOL. But yes, cameos from Law and Bepo today whooo! Regarding Perrie, she is not a main OC and she isn't a good match for Law at all  
> 2\. I've read a few fics where Ace is depicted as a playboy but I've chosen not to here. I don't think it suits him so here he is your precious baby who only has eyes for you ^_^  
> 3\. But yes, the deserted island saga is coming to an end now. Sorry for any OOC


	10. Honeytrap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, sorry for the super late update. I've been so busy!!! And this chapter actually had me stumped. Please see me notes below and you will see why!

**HONEYTRAP**

…

…

_"Hello? Ace? Can you hear me, over? Testing, testing. One, two, three."_

_"It works, [Y/N], it works!"_

_"O-okay, that's good……………Uh, bye."_

The line abruptly stops and the room falls silent. The little bunker is full of various types of surveillance den den Mushi, and one man sits at the desk, staring at the various snails that have now fallen back to sleep after replaying the recorded conversation whilst the other man in the room stands behind him stiffly, his expression taut and troubled. He is so tall the top of his head almost touches the ceiling and he has a broad figure which fits the entire doorframe. Donned in the signature marine white jacket and a black suit and tie, he scratches at his grey beard as he unfolds his arms from his wide chest and emits a sigh. “You’re right. That was indeed her voice.”

“And Portgas D. Ace was on the other line.”

“…I knew this would happen one day. Didn’t realise it would be so soon.”

“It’s not your fault, Vice Admiral.”

“I want the bounty increased for Portgas D. Ace. Don’t care about the reason… put him down for rape, arson, robbery, whatever.” Curling his fist, closing his large fingers into a tight ball, he growls, “I want his head.”

“But Vice Admiral Laurel...”

“Is there a problem?!” He growls, causing the smaller man to flinch.

“If it helps, I-I could try it out first? I mean...w-we could still turn the situation around in our favour if you just let me…do my work. I’ll make it happen. Trust me.”

He contemplates for a while before nodding. “Very well. Do what has to be done.” Grabbing him by the front of his shirt, Laurel hisses at the tiny man, “Do not fail me, Doctor.”

......

This would be your second time onboard the Moby Dick and it’s a lot different than before.

In Phoenix form, Marco was able to eventually locate yourself and Ace and now you find yourself hitching a ride on Ace’s Striker, a little raft which he has on several occasions lost sight of (but it always miraculously returns to him, funnily enough). You soon discover that it is built exclusively for Ace to use as he boards it and holds his hand out to you with a grin. You accept his hand cautiously but once he kickstarts the engine by igniting flames from his feet and it roars into life; the raft starts speeding away from the beach and you have to clutch onto him the entire time or else risk falling off. Marco leads the way; apparently the Moby Dick is nearby but due to the size of the ship, you doubt it’s close to the island. It feels as though hours pass until the massive yet impressive silhouette of the Moby Dick finally looms in the horizon, graciously perched atop calm ocean waves, covered by thick mist and smog as the night progresses. Despite the late hour, you see lights and as soon as Ace fixes the Striker to the side of the ship, he grabs onto the rung of an extendable ladder and climbs on before he helps you to climb onboard. The climb is equally painstakingly long and once you’re onboard, Whitebeard greets you; you’re surprised that the Captain himself is still awake at this hour. He is not alone for you see Thatch standing to Whitebeard’s left and Marco on the right; the division commanders welcome the both of you warmly with smiles. It’s quite a relief to see familiar faces here.

“O-Oyaji!” Ace splutters, before he immediately gets down on his knees, forehead touching the floor, eyes squeezed shut whilst Marco flashes a grin at the two of you. You stare at Ace wordlessly before shifting your glance to the massive man.

“Get up, son. We ought to talk; you too, lass. Thatch, bring ‘em some meat, will ya? They’re skin and bone.” Whitebeard barks out, and Thatch acknowledges the order and scurries below deck. Turning to you both, Whitebeard grunts under his breath whilst you cringe and look at Ace then at yourself; you’re both covered in muck and grime and you’re definitely malnourished. Poor Ace, his muscles are no longer bulging and broad anymore - he is a shadow of his former self, thin and lean. He definitely needs some proper food. You on the other hand, well…losing a few pounds is not so bad but now you’re almost on the brink of starvation so it’s not ideal either.

As Ace rises from the floor, Whitebeard turns and makes his way to the direction of his quarters; Ace reaches for your hand and squeezes your fingers. Despite the bitter, frigid cold of the night, Ace’s innate warmth is a godsend right now. With Ace by your side, you wonder what lies in store for you as you walk hand in hand with Ace leading you; you follow the massive man and into his room and Ace shuts the door. Whitebeard’s room isn’t anything eye-catching at all. As one of the strongest pirates in the world, the fabled Whitebeard, commander of a thousand men, user of the fearful Gura Gura no Mi… you expected his room to be far more spectacular, maybe? Where are all the trophies? The treasure? The room is bare and empty except from his bed and cupboard. There’s nothing here… it doesn’t even look any different than your room, either. It’s dull, plain and boring. The Whitebeard’s truly are a different breed of pirate after all.

His room is large enough to accommodate his size so there’s apt room for you and Ace to stand before him; even his bed is perhaps one of the biggest ones you’ve seen in your life. The Captain takes off his jacket and drapes it on his chair before he plops down on the plush chair with a loud and hearty sigh; he lifts up his gourd and unscrews the lid, holding it upside down and opens his mouth but there is nothing, not even a drop. Raising a brow, Whitebeard grunts and puts the gourd down on the table before he settles his eyes on the both of you and rubs at his chin (and despite being known as Whitebeard, he only has a white moustache). As he stares you down from head to toe once more, you are fighting the urge to gulp down the lump in your throat as you feel your knees beginning to wobble.

“I’ve been informed that Brutus is dead.” Whitebeard mutters, “And it was [Y/N] who killed him.”

“No, I did. It was me.” Ace steps in immediately, but you can sense something amiss so you are quick to interject also.

“Wait.” You take a few step forwards. “It was me. Mr Whitebeard, allow me to explain. During the night of the celebration, I left the dining hall and made my way above deck. Brutus was onboard the Moby Dick and he had attacked a few of your crew before taking me away. I was the one who killed him and - “

“[Y/N]? What are you saying?” Ace interrupts immediately, “Oyaji, it was me.”

“No, it was _me_ \- “

“Enough.” Whitebeard grunts out. His expression is sour as he averts his glance from Ace, to you, and back again. “Neither of you owe me any explanations. Brutus’ crew have disbanded after their ship was destroyed during the storm. Everything they have has been lost to sea. They are no more. One ally is lost, the Penhym Islands have lost their protection… I have offered the survivors to be my sons and they have demanded for some form of justice to be administered for their loss. They do not care who is punished, as long as there is punishment being carried out.”

“Then punish me; I take full responsibility.” Ace says, and you end up frowning at him.

As the two of you bicker over who should be punished, Whitebeard growls loudly which causes the both of you to stop. The old man rubs at his temples, deep in thought as he frowns. Looks like you're giving him a headache (again). Before you can say anything, Ace steps forwards. "Oyaji, punish me in [Y/N]'s place." You open your mouth again but he holds his arm out.

There's a silence as you shoot him an exasperated look and Whitebeard mutters, “My son, do you understand what must be done?”

Ace gives a solemn, brief nod. “I understand.” He replies and you’re confused and not liking this one bit; however, Ace reaches for you and squeezes your hand to prevent you from further voicing your opinion.

Satisfied, Whitebeard nods also although a tad reluctantly. “Good. Marco will see to it.” Addressing you now, he adds, “[Y/N], go see the nurses; they’ll tend to your injuries.”

“Mr Whitebeard - “

“Yer just a guest here, lass. Best you stay out of our business.” Whitebeard says, and Ace’s grip on you tightens. He’s pulling you back, trying to get you uninvolved as much as possible. Perhaps the punishment won’t be as bad as you believe it sounds…

Therefore, you find yourself begrudgingly grunting out in response, “Thank you, Mr Whitebeard.”

However, the conversation is far from over as Ace adds, “Oyaji, please allow [Y/N] to become a Whitebeard.”

You’re taken off guard for the umpteenth time today and you stare at Ace incredulously but he isn’t looking at you anymore; he and the captain are staring each other down; he harbours a determined look on his face and you know his request is serious. Yet Whitebeard’s reply is quick: “No.”

Devastated, Ace exclaims, “Why?”

“I do not grant passage to females onboard as fighters. The only exception I have made are the nurses. [Y/N] is welcome to stay until we reach land, which will be in a few day’s time.”

Ace’s expression crumples entirely and he looks at you, fists clenching; with renewed vigour, he tries again: “Oyaji!!!”

An eyebrow raises and the corner of Whitebeard’s lip lifts up slightly but he has a dark look on his face. Whitebeard’s not having any of it and Ace doesn’t seem brave enough to challenge him any further. You bear witness to the interaction between them both - it is indeed, akin to the relationship of a father and son; a son who is not getting what he wants. “Marco.” Whitebeard barks, “Take him away.”

As Ace hangs his head low in defeat, Marco opens the door and enters the room. “Yosh, Oyaji. Ace…come with me.”

“Where are you taking him?” You ask, as Marco escorts Ace out wordlessly.

“You best hurry to the nurse’s office, [Y/N].” Whitebeard grunts out. “And shut the door on your way out, will ya?”

…..

Ace and you have been split up; you find yourself wholly unused to being separated from Ace and suddenly it frightens you. Still, you need to get your wounds treated so you head to the nurse’s office without further ado, and with not much choice to begin with from the very beginning. Once you open the door, the ladies greet you and begin to tend to your wounds. Luckily, you’re beginning to heal up nicely and the holes in your hands have closed up entirely. The wound on your back is also slowly beginning to disappear, although they’ve told you that there will be a permanent scar which doesn’t bother you - _much_.

After the nurses patch you up, they inform you that Thatch has prepared some food for you and that your room is ready and it’s the same one you stayed in previously but you’re more interested in finding out what happened to Ace and where Marco took him, so after you finish your dinner, you leave your room. Thatch has cooked you a delicious meal consisting of fish, vegetables, chicken, pork and other interesting delicacies and earnestly you want to eat it with Ace as you have been eating with him for the past week since you were stranded on the island, so you ensure you leave some food which you can share with him later.

You take the spare food with you in the bowl and cover it with a lid, pack it into a small baggy which you found conveniently in your room, then try to find Ace’s quarters; from your room, you make your way to the opposite side of the ship where a sign on the wall points you to head downstairs to find the commander’s quarters - it’s split into sections in numerical order and they’re split into fours - therefore according to the first sign you come across, the first to fourth division commander’s quarters would be in this section. Following the directions diligently, you head over to the correct door, opening it and it leads to a corridor that branches to the right which houses the first and second division whereas the third and fourth are to the left. You head down the right path and there are only two doors in plain sight. Marco’s door is aptly labelled and the closed door opposite it is not but there is a flame insignia pinned to it so it is your only and pretty apparent clue that this is Ace’s room. However, knocking and waiting a few seconds leads to no response so it seems Ace hasn’t returned yet.

Heading back above deck, you note it's empty...until you see the small crowd that have gathered on the upper foremast on the other side and you can hear the ominous sounds of a whip followed by some pained grunts.

Heading over, you squeeze your way through thick and burly giant men and to the very front where you see Ace - he’s almost on the brink of collapsing as he's tied to two pillars with his arms pulled up high, wrists bound by thick chains. A man you do not recognise is before him wielding a thick, bloody whip in hand which he proceeds to wail down over Ace’s chest. The whip cracks as soon as it makes contact and there’s the sound of flesh tearing, blood dripping. Ace grunts out, gritting his teeth tightly. His chest is tarnished, covered in several bloody lashes but the crowd is silent as they watch on.

“Ace!!” You yell, and Ace looks up slowly. He spots you amongst the group and smiles wearily at your direction, just as the whip is brought over his chest again, causing him to emit a hiss of pain. “ _Ace!_ ” You're about to dash forwards but someone stops you by grabbing your arm in time and you’re pulled backwards; it’s Thatch, who shakes his head helplessly as you growl out, “Let go of me!”

“Don’t.” He mutters as you fight against him, frowning. “Don’t worry, Ace has gone through worst. This is nothing. He will be fine. Come along now…nothing to see here, future sister-in-law.” Thatch covers your eyes and busily escorts you away to the group and you can no longer see Ace but you can hear him getting flogged violently.

"Let go!"

"Nope, no can do. This is Oyaji’s order. Fifty lashes. You cannot intervene.”

“Fifty?!” You exclaim as you remove his hand to look up at him in shock.

He nods solemnly, then slides his glance to the side. “Come back in an hour or so.”

“Mr Thatch, do something!”

“...Unfortunately there's nothing I can do.”

“You pirates really are the worst!”

“Well, what do you marines do when someone gets into serious trouble?” Thatch points out, “Don’t you throw him into a dungeon?” With nothing to say to that, you merely bite down on your lip angrily and Thatch looks at you helplessly. "I'm sorry, future sister-in-law. I really am."

There's nothing you can do. Not even Marco and Thatch can assist...You will need to check up on Ace later…

…..

When an hour or so has passed, you emerge from your room with the food again and head towards the direction of the foremast where you see Ace crumpled over the floor albeit still tied to the two pillars, his arms still outstretched in the air and wrists shackled. There’s blood trickling all over the ground and into the floorboards; his chest is nothing but a red fleshy mess and you hastily rush over.

“Ace!” Once you arrive, you immediately lower yourself to your knees in front of him, inspecting him worryingly. Although he is no longer bleeding, his head is lowered but upon hearing your voice, Ace slowly looks up and smiles fondly at you.

“Hey…”

You reach over him and try to tug and pull at the chains with all your might. Your knuckles are turning white as you try to pull them and you grit your teeth and it rustles ever-so-slightly but otherwise it’s no use, they will not budge no matter how much strength you apply and he’s stuck. There’s no way you can get them off. Dropping to your knees before him, you give him a quick hug by wrapping your arms around his neck, careful not to aggravate the wounds on his chest. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah…” He replies, coughing slightly as his hair falls over his face messily. His lips and the corners of his mouth are stained with blood, which you wipe off with your sleeve as you let go of him. He’s also covered in sweat so you pat and wipe at his forehead too before smoothing down his hair over the sides of his head with your hands.

“Why did they do this to you? Why are you letting them do this?”

“This is my punishment.”

“I thought Whitebeard doesn’t believe in punishment.”

“For what I did to Brutus, this has to be done.” Then he attempts to give you a wide grin, lips pulling back thinly. “I’ll be fine, [Y/N].”

He got flogged yet he's still putting on a brave front to you and acting as if everything's okay. You cup his cheeks next and he affectionately leans into your palms, turning to press his lips over your hands. “I’ll speak to Whitebeard.” You whisper, moving close to him, your foreheads touching.

"I’ll be okay, [Y/N].” He reassures you again, seeing how crestfallen you are. “...You should go, it’s late.”

There’s no-one else here; it’s cold, it’s dark and lonely, and you shake your head adamantly, “No. I want to stay here with you.” 

There's a brief silence; Ace is gazing at you before ultimately, his cheeks go red. Holding his face in your hands, you sweep away some dark hair from his eyes and he's watching you the entire time as you brush your fingers over the sides of his cheeks and his blunt jaw; he slowly leans in to nuzzle you, closing his eyes as you slip your arms around the back of his neck, relishing the close proximity. As you rub at his little freckles on one side of his cheek, you close the gap between you and gingerly press your lips against his, which takes him by surprise but you soon find him trying to inch closer to you, the chains rattling as he tries to fight against his confines, trying to tug his wrists free. Even though he wants to feel more of your lips over his, he's completely immobile.

“...You can’t stay; Squard’s on watch duty.” He murmurs under his breath as you pull away, resting your forehead against his. 

“Who’s Squard?”

“That’ll be me.” grunts a gruff voice, and you turn to the sound to see a stern-looking man carrying a claymore over his shoulder who has suddenly appeared to your right; it appears he was making rounds, patrolling. You quickly shove your bag of food behind you, hoping he hadn't seen. “You, girl, away with you now.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” You retort, eyes narrowing.

“Don’t make me hurt you.” Squard growls, his hand inching towards the handle of his formidable weapon.

“I am _not_ leaving him.”

“Then I might as well tie you up too.” Squard replies dryly; glancing left and right, you know he has to continue patrolling and can’t afford to linger here any longer.

“I won’t do anything. I promise.” You reassure him, and Squard lets out a frustrated grunt in response.

He doesn’t have much of an option; shoving his claymore at your direction, he barks, “Fine, you can stay, but no funny business.” With that, he turns and continues his nightly watch duties, wandering out of your sight. Ace breathes a sigh of relief and as you grab your bag of food, Ace’s stomach emits the loudest growl you’ve ever heard in your entire life. His cheeks go slightly red as you turn to him and he looks away sheepishly; you lift out the bowl of hot food you had taken with you, lifting the lid off.

“Good thing I brought this for you.”

However, Ace shakes his head, “Wait, [Y/N], you can’t - Squard made an exception for you to stay but what if he sees - “ You abruptly silence him by sticking an oily chicken thigh into his mouth.

“You need to eat.” You mutter sternly, and he looks at you wide-eyed before he starts to chew silently and obediently. Swallowing the meat down, bone included (you’ve never seen anyone eat like that before), Ace gulps down the chicken and his stomach is no longer rumbling. You reach for the pork knuckle next and lift it near his lips. At first, he’s hesitant but you give him a testing look and finally, Ace complies, opening his mouth and you continue to feed him until all the food is gone.

…….

It’s early morning when Ace suddenly jerks awake; he can feel a weight in his lap and he opens his eyes to see Marco by his side, draping a thin blanket over a sleeping [Y/N] who is curled up in his lap, huddled in a fetal position although she’s clinging to his waist, arms wrapped around him securely.

“Shhh, you’ll wake her up, yoi.” Marco whispers, “I tried to get her off you but she wouldn’t let go.”

Although he's stunned, Ace can’t help but grin as he recalls their time on the island and that night in particular when she fell asleep before him on the hill and he went to get her...and then couldn’t get her off afterwards. Throwing his glance to her, however, he doesn’t quite recall her crawling into his lap, nor does he remember falling asleep - maybe he had a narcolepsy attack? “How long has she been there?”

“She’s been here all night. Never left your side.” Marco says, smiling lightly as Ace blinks numbly; Squard might look and act scary, but he’s allowed [Y/N] to keep him company... As Marco finishes his task and rises to stand, he dusts himself down and slips his hands into his pockets as he sidles away. “Hang in there-yoi.”

....

**Later.**

“[Y/N]-yoi. Wake up.”

You open your eyes groggily, looking up to see Marco squatting in front of you. It’s morning; the rest of the crew are up and about, but it looks like no-one has paid you or Ace any attention. Rubbing at your eyes, you grunt out, “What is it?”

“I need you to come with me.”

“...I’m not going anywhere until Ace is freed.”

“They will not untie him until afternoon, so nothing can be done as of now. It'll be fine-yoi. I just need you to come with me for a few minutes." Marco reassures, and although you are reluctant you find yourself agreeing. With a simple nod, you untangle your arms from Ace and spare a quick glance at him; he’s still asleep and he doesn’t wake up when you lift yourself out of his lap. Marco helps you up onto your feet and leads you to the front of the ship where he changes to a half-bird form, fiery blue wings sprouting from his back. “Hop on, yoi. Don’t worry, I won’t drop you.”

“…Very funny.” You’re wary but you climb on Marco’s awaiting back and he prompts you to slip your arms around him or else you might fall off. With a massive flap of the wings and Marco takes off into the air; it's a breathtaking, exhilarating experience. Marco soars up high in the sky and towards the clouds where the sky is blue and the sun is shining. You hold onto him tightly as Marco begins a gradual descent and hovers in the air before finding his bearings, wings flapping gently. Your weight is not a bother for him at all and he begins to soar away from the ship, heading off to an unknown direction.

“So, Ace told me he found a devil fruit-yoi, but you refused to eat it.” Marco strikes up conversation with you fairly casually. It's good that he's easy to talk to.

"Yeah, that's right."

“Why?”

“I don’t want to lose the ability to swim.”

Marco chuckles in response before he suddenly executes an abrupt right turn and you accidentally yelp and clutch onto him tightly. An island full of nothing but multicoloured shrubbery is his destination and once he lands, he quickly picks a random assortment of flowers before taking to the skies again, bouquet in hand.

“Where are we actually going?” You ask, as he asks you to hold the flowers for him for the time being.

“You’ll see-yoi.”

It takes a while again until Marco lands once more - he chooses a small, deserted island and you’re somewhat relieved to be back on dry land when your feet touch the sandy beach. Marco’s wings disappear and he takes the flowers off you and quietly treks away from the beach and towards the middle of the island. You're left on your own. Are you meant to follow? There’s nothing else on this island except sand and grass…with nothing to do, you trail after him and up ahead, you can see that in the distance there is a gravestone sticking out of the ground. You follow Marco to the grave where he stops in front of it and kneels down, placing the bouquet gently over the ground. There’s the name of an unknown female on the stone. The etchings on it indicates that she was young when she passed away…

There’s an uneasy feeling in your gut when you glance at him. “Is this…?”

He nods. “My soulmate-yoi.” His revelation forces you to grow silent as he moves to sit cross-legged in front of the stone. “Sorry-yoi….it’s been a while since I came to visit..We don't come to East Blue often...but I brought Ace’s soulmate with me so that she could meet you-yoi. She’s a nice girl.”

You cringe slightly, and as Marco continues chatting away in a one-sided conversation...it seems like Marco should be left alone, so you retreat towards the direction of the beach and keep a safe distance, allowing him some time on his own. All of a sudden though and you feel uncomfortable as you watch him from your spot. When Marco finishes, he returns to you, hands in his pockets.

“What’s wrong-yoi? Why do you look so sad? That look doesn't suit you, future sister-in-law.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Don’t be-yoi.” He shows you his arm, pulling up his sleeve. You can see a blurry black scrawl, but aside from that, you cannot make out what it says at all. “After I lost her, her name began to disappear but... not in here-yoi.” He places his fist gently over his chest, where his heart should be. Looking up at the sky, he then emits a little hum under his breath. “So, soulmates are important-yoi. And Ace is my brother…deep down, he's rather insecure-yoi. I don’t want to see him get hurt.”

“I won’t hurt him.”

Marco plops his large hand over your head, patting your hair. Instead of replying to you, however, he chuckles and merely says, “Thanks for looking after him-yoi.”

….

When it’s finally time for Ace to be released, Marco watches and the girl waits keenly as Squard unlocks the chains and they fall loose and drop to the ground. As Squard tidies away the chains and locks, Ace gets up to stand and rubs at his wrists before he glances at her direction and with a wide grin, he dives for her in seconds, scooping her into his arms and crushing her tiny frame into his embrace. Marco watches with a cool smile as she wrap her arms around him in return; he tightens his arms around her, his lips by her ear.

No-one can hear what he's whispering, but it's probably sweet nothings when a small smile blossoms on her face and she leans over, murmuring something in his ear in response which prompts him to pull back and grin, before he squeezes her tightly in his arms until he winces slightly and she looks up.

“Sorry. Did I hurt you?”

“Nah.”

“Let's go to the nurse’s office.”

He shakes his head. "Need to talk to Oyaji..."

"About what?"

"Letting you in."

She looks confused. "He already told us he doesn't allow females onboard except the nurses."

He shakes his head. "I'll make him listen..." He leaves his sentence trailing as he begins to lean to one side, his knees about to give way.

"You can barely stand!" She barks, and Ace grumbles in response. "I'm taking you to see the nurses."

Marco watches as she proceeds to grab him by the back of his waist and Ace slings an arm over her shoulder as she helps him limp down the stairs. He stares at her for a brief moment and then utters out, "[Y/N]...Can we take a bath together?”

“Yes, sure.”

He’s said this quite loudly and she’s agreed. Yeesh, just what exactly happened between them when they were on the island? Marco inwardly sighs as he watches the two headtowards the direction of the infirmary.

....

A while later and Marco goes to find the second division commander.

“Ace?” He knocks on the door. “Ace, are you in there-yoi.”

He’s knocked three times now only for no response. They can’t still be bathing together, can they? Maybe he should’ve checked the bath first. Sighing, Marco throws his glance to the doorknob and although he’s a tad unsure, he grasps the handle, pushes down and it swings open, much to his surprise. The blinds are drawn tightly but he spots the second division commander lying on the bed with their future sister-in-law curled beside him, her face buried in the crook of his neck and his arms wrapped around her tightly. They’re both sleeping soundly and Marco blinks numbly before slowly backing away.

“Whoops….excuse me-yoi. Didn’t mean to interrupt…” He whispers as he slowly closes the door. As he shuts the door silently and let it click shut, he contemplates what he had just witnessed. Both of them are still clothed…guess no hanky panky ensued… but still, they had been isolated on an island for more than a week...now they spent the whole night together, they’ve taken a bath together and now this. Something must’ve happened. Shrugging, Marco slips his hands into his pockets and meanders towards deck where he’s greeted by Haruta, one of the younger division commanders onboard.

“Hey Marco. Where’s Ace?”

“Still sleeping.”

“What? At this hour? I’ll go wake him.”

But Marco is quick to react as Haruto begins to descend the stairs. “Nah, don’t bother-yoi.”

“Did his narcolepsy hit again?”

Marco pauses, then nods, “Yeah, looks like a big one; best to give him a few more hours-yoi.”

Haruta appears convinced. “Alright.” He replies with a shrug, and he heads the other direction away from Ace’s quarters.

Glancing at the corridor which leads to Ace’s room, Marco emits a gentle sigh. Ace owes him big time for this. Marco cheerfully makes his way towards the kitchen, rounding the corner only to come to a jarring halt; he can hear some of the crew talking and it’s not a very pleasant conversation:

“Well, I for one am not liking this one bit. She’s a fecking marine.”

“How can Oyaji allow her to stay?”

“She’s Ace’s soulmate.”

“She’s definitely a spy. You’ve heard of ‘em, right? _Honeytraps_ , that’s what they’re called - if a marine is discovered to have the soulmate mark that is the name of a pirate, they train 'em up to be _spies_.”

Deciding he’s heard enough, Marco steps in and the little group of subordinates squeak with fright at his arrival. “Listen up-yoi, don’t even think about it.” He issues one casual warning, delivered with a cool smile. They’re still his brothers, after all, even though some are shady as hell.

“Y-Yes, Marco…”

With that, the group disperses and resume their normal duties. Marco drops his smile, rubbing at the base of his chin. "Honeytrap..." He murmurs to himself. He can’t help but agree however; having a marine onboard may not be entirely a good thing...

…..

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Whitebeard's punishment...hm, so I was not sure about this, considering he even forgave Squard for stabbing him.... But since this is set in the past and there's still politics...I was writing a few versions where Ace/Reader is casually let off the hook and it did not appear right, so in this chapter, Reader is blamed for Brutus' death but Ace takes her place and gets flogged and tied to the mast.  
> 2\. Marco's soulmate is dead. The cruel irony because of his devil fruit :(  
> 


	11. If I Were a Pirate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whoa, can't believe another week has passed. That's really quick. Hope you all enjoy this chapter :) Happy Chinese New Year!

**IF I WERE A PIRATE...**

…

…

“Land hoy!!”

It’s the continuous, heavy footsteps and the muffled racket upstairs which prompts him to wake up; he’s still groggy but it’s the best sleep he’d ever had, probably the best since he joined the Whitebeards. One week or so of being stranded on a deserted island with no proper bed should’ve given him cricks in his back, neck and shoulders but he’s pleasantly surprised to find that he feels none of the sort. It could be because he’s woken up to her cradling his head in her arms, her cheek resting over the top of his head as she snuggles him to her chest, her hair spooling around him, tickling the tip of his nose and the sides of his face. He knows she’s awake too because she’s stroking his cheek before she threads her fingers through his hair and to his scalp, pressing her lips over the top of his head.

He’s chuckles and adjusts himself in her hold, lifting himself up using his elbows and she loosens her grip on him. He’s lying between her legs - he can't afford to lie on his chest because he's still in pain - but he also hopes he isn’t crushing her with his weight; a simple shuffle under the sheets seems to do the trick and she slowly withdraws one of her long legs, accidentally brushing her foot against the bulky curve of his calf (or was it an accident?). Looking up, he grins as she leans down and he rubs his nose against hers affectionately and it’s enough to elicit a smile from her lips.

“Hey…” He murmurs, reaching up to weave his fingers through a loose strand of her hair.

“Hey.”

He wants to kiss her, so he gently tilts her face down to his level in his large hand, bringing her face close enough in order to press his lips against hers gently. It’s a tender kiss which sends his heart pulsing even though he’s the one who took initiative, and soon his thoughts are of nothing but her; hopefully he will share more of these moments with her. It’s almost a hassle to pull away because he is enjoying it so much but when their lips part, she’s smiling. It’s a feat. He’s the only person who can bring this out of her; he knows that she will smile for him and only him.

“How’s the chest?”

He’s still sore but he’d suffered worse than this in his youth. “All good. How’s your hands and back?”

“I’m fine.” She replies as she runs her hand gently over his bandages, courtesy of the nurses. “I think we slept all day.”

He plucks her hand off him and brings her knuckles to his lips, kissing the back of her palm and her fingers. Her fingers are rough, her fingertips blunt and calloused and the skin is thick, and he knows it's from years of hardship and training at the marine academy. It means something - it means that she is hard-working, disciplined and tough. And he likes it. “Mm… Do you want to get up?” He murmurs as he applies kisses over her hands.

“…Not really, but we’ve reached land now.” She replies.

“Nngh.” Ace grunts sourly, frowning slightly as he’s forced to sit up and out of his comfy seat. Looking outside his window, he can see that it’s still dark, however.

“We should probably get ready.”

He turns to her, shaking his head. “…Stay here for the rest of the night? With me?” He asks, a little wistfully.

But she has other ideas in mind. “C’mon.” Tugging at his arm, she slips out of bed and pulls him out with her. His feet find the floor and so does the blanket, which he pulls with him. It drops to the floor and he grumbles as he collects it and throws it messily over the bed, then he shoves his feet into his awaiting boots and she dons her coat. He doesn’t need anything else since all he wears are his shorts. Grabbing his hat along the way, they leave the sanctity of his room and head above deck to see some of the crew preparing to moor the ship. Vista marches proudly past the both of them, carrying a massive barrel over his shoulder.

Ace quickly catches his attention. “Hey, Vista. Where are we?”

“Hm? Oh, good evening Ace.” The big burly man cracks a grin at him, then he glances at the girl who is sticking close to Ace’s side, “Future sister-in-law.” Tipping his hat politely at her, she provides a greeting in response. “We’re stopping at Coalram Bay to replenish our supplies.”

As Vista takes his leave, Ace mutters, “Coalram Bay, eh? Heard they got a great tavern there. [Y/N], wanna try it out?”

At the mere notion, she purses her lips in thought but remains silent.

“What’s wrong? Don’t you wanna go check it out?”

“I can’t.”

“You wanna stay onboard?”

“It’s not that; Coalram Bay is a notorious pirate hideout. If I get noticed, there’ll be trouble. I’m best just staying on the ship…”

Ace ponders to himself, then grins, “I have an idea.”

…..

“Hey, [Y/N], are you ready yet?”

“….I’m not coming out.”

“Why not?”

“….I look awful.”

“C’mon, I want to see!”

“No.”

“You better come out or I’m gonna go in.”

“Ace, please don’t.”

“I’ll give you to the count of three… _One_ …. _two_ \- “

“Alright, alright. I’m coming.”

Sighing, you twist the doorknob, open the door a tiny fraction and poke your head out of the doorway - Ace is standing outside, leaning against the banister as the rest of the Whitebeard crew leave the ship in droves - and Ace gives you an expectant look because he’s waiting - and you nervously step out. Once he gets an eyeful of you, his eyes grow wide and he immediately coughs into his fist as he looks at you from head to toe, his face turning red.

You’re not in your usual marine get-up; instead, you’re dressed in an extremely revealing leather black corset that barely covers your chest, the strings looking rather tight and strained over your cleavage. It’s so short it doesn’t even cover your midriff. A checkered blouse with three quarter sleeves is the only means of keeping you relatively warm, not that it’s particularly cold anyway this night. It also serves well to cover your soulmate mark. A tiny pair of shorts covers your butt and your feet are stuffed into black boots, your katanas fastened together beside your hip. All of this is thanks to the nurses; Ace has asked them if they can kindly lend you their spare clothes and as predicted, it's skimpy and revealing wear. Even a matching black hat is provided; it’s similar to Ace’s, although more akin to a cowboy hat which you keep plopped over your head. They’ve even given you an eyepatch too which is probably a bit too much even if it’s supposed to complete the outfit so you missed it out.

Ace continues to gawp at you from top to bottom and you’re a little uncomfortable under his scrutiny so you awkwardly avert your glance to the side. Ace’s face soon returns to its normal colour and he begins to grin widely as he pushes himself off the banister to circle you. “Not bad…” He murmurs under his breath, rubbing the base of his chin, “Not bad at all…”

“This is weird…I look like a pirate.” You say with a shudder, still feeling somewhat anxious under his sweeping gaze.

“That’s the point.” Ace mutters with a grin; he seems really happy with your appearance as he grabs your hand and starts leading you towards the exit of the ship.

“Ace, wait - “ You have to hold on to the hat to stop it from falling off as Ace hurriedly leads you off the Moby Dick and towards the island of Coalram Bay.

…..

One thing Ace has forgotten to tell you is that there are a lot of prostitutes about. You stay close to Ace as the two of you wander around the lively island and a number of lovely ladies standing in random areas dressed in revealing garments constantly coo at Ace for his attention.

However, Ace’s gaze is purely on you. He’s liking this new look, and he’s liking this look of yours a lot. It’s pretty damn obvious because he can’t stop looking at you and he’s been staring for so long that you end up being the one leading him as you hold hands in the street, trying to locate the tavern Ace wants to desperately try out.

The rest of the crew have split up into all sorts of directions; whilst some are perusing the brothel, some of Whitebeard’s men are heading to the cargo area for purchasing and trading stock and supplies and others head to the local bar. Coalram Bay is essentially a small island for seedy operations - it’s a safe haven for pirates, governed completely by pirates. There is no presence of marines here at all. The reason being is because there are rumours that the World Government have stuck their roots deep underneath and there’s some heavy corruption going on here. Whatever it is, it completely bypasses your authority so you’re best keeping your nose out of their business or it might get you killed.

“I think we’re here.” You mutter as you let go of his hand. You’ve located a tavern named ‘ _The Cracked Kegg_ ’ and according to Ace’s testimony they serve the best roasted meat in East Blue. There’s jaunty music emitting from within and muffled hearty laughter and conversation. However, the moment you open the swing doors and step inside and a man goes flying past you and slams into the wall, dropping to the ground, unconscious.

“How'd you like that?!!” screams the assailant; its a gold-toothed skinhead dressed in typical pirate gear who is clutching a barely dressed woman to his side. She squeals with delight in response and the sight of it all makes you sigh under your breath as you step inside with Ace at your heels.

“This is great!” He exclaims, completely oblivious to the chaos and disorder.

“….Really, Ace?” You utter, your brow twitching.

Ace nods vigorously at you. “Let’s go!”

Grabbing your hand, he leads you further inside where you occasionally find yourself ducking from flying beer mugs, cautiously evading from men who are engrossed with knocking the lights out of each other and hurriedly looking away from someone can be seen hunched over and vomiting violently in a corner. You’re not quite sure if you’re going to like this one bit. Eventually, you and Ace find two empty seats and Ace asks you what you want to eat, to which you reply you’re not at all bothered, and so he begins ordering every item of food that’s available on their menu just as two huge and hairy rats scurry past your feet, causing you to hastily pull your legs up to your chest and cross them so you’re not touching the ground. The old and grey, big bald barkeep of a man with the glass eye behind the counter doesn’t look too impressed as Ace sits in front of him and begins dictating his order. Ace is grinning, clean and young and the barkeep is grizzled and old compared to Ace.

“Is that all?” He grunts out, once Ace stops at the final item on the menu.

“That’s all.” Ace says with a grin, and the man draws his lips back and spits noisily into an empty beer glass before turning round towards the direction of the kitchen.

“Nima!!! YE GOT ALL THAT???” He screams at the open window.

‘Aye, I got it.” squeaks a voice from within.

The food’s ordered. You sit and wait. It’s noisy here. It smells bad. It’s dirty and disgusting. You can feel numerous chills running down your spine as Ace turns to you with a wide smirk. He’s happy here. He’s completely at ease and also oblivious to the horrendous conditions of this place and you wonder if Ace has ever heard of _luxury_ as you would never be caught dead here. You also wonder if he even has the money to pay for the food considering his pockets are looking rather sparse at the moment. The more you think about it, the more this can be likened as a date. Your first date with Ace! How exciting.... Even if it’s in a dirty, rundown pirate tavern…

A mug of beer is served to you by the big grey bald man who just spat into a glass in order to polish it, and you don’t want to drink out from the glass but Ace is chugging his drink down with no problem.

“…Ace, how can you drink that?” You murmur under your breath, crossing your arms over your chest.

“What’s the matter?”

“He used his spit to clean it. This place is filthy.”

“But the meat’s good.” He replies, and although you’re silent because he completely missed the point, he swerves round in his chair to you and reaches for your hand, giving your fingers a squeeze. “…You wanna go somewhere else?”

Ace really wanted to try this place, right? Therefore, you shake your head. “It’s okay, Ace.”

“Are you sure?”

You nod.

He gives you another wide grin and plops his hand over your hat, patting you affectionately. “Let’s go?”

You blink, stunned. “But you just ordered.”

“You don’t like it here…so we should go.”

Ace’s thoughtfulness is really surprising you; however, before any of you can react, a few plates filled with food are being settled before you and it’s some of the food he’s ordered. You glance at the food and sigh. It’s a bit too late now. Giving Ace a reassuring nod, you grab the fork for him and nudge it towards him for his taking. He’s a tad reluctant now but you press it into his hand.

“Go ahead.” You mutter, and Ace begins to eat. It doesn’t matter to you - Ace wanted to try it so you will go along with it. As long as he’s happy, right?

As Ace eats, you absent-mindedly take your mug and down the beer before remembering. Ace on the other hand, has already finished his third beer and holds up his mug for a refill. Looking up at the menu board that’s stuck on the wall, their meatball pie sounds good, so you attempt to locate it amongst the pile of food that’s in front of you and find a large square dish and begin eating. Once you’ve finished your meal, you see that Ace has gone through all the dishes and empty plates are stacked up on top of one another.

“Ace, are you finished already?”

“Yep…” He slurs slightly; his face is red; no way, is he drunk? Your eyes wander to the numerous empty mugs beside him. Despite getting refills, he’s been served several beers at the same time.

“Uh…maybe we should get out of here.” You mutter.

“Huh? Uh…yeah, let’s go…Oyaji’s probably waitin’ for us…” He stuffs the fork into his mouth and finishes one last bite of pie, before turning round and slipping off his seat.

“Oi!!! Where’d you think you’re going?!” screams the bald man, and Ace is briefly brought back to his senses, blinking blankly at him.

“Oh. Uh….. Thanks for the food!!!!”

Without another word, Ace grabs you by the wrist and hauls you out of your seat and out of the tavern, the both of you running as fast as you can and the tavern owner shouting and roaring obscenities at the both of you.

“Ace!!! What are you doing?!” You exclaim, but he merely beams at you in response.

You run for a long time and Ace finally spots a good hiding place up ahead - a small hut that’s bathed in darkness - and he leads you towards it and rounds the corner, coming to a stop. He’s panting slightly and you’re panting too, sweat dotting your brow. You remove your hat to fan yourself, trying to catch your breath.

“What was that all about?” You say with a huff, hand on your hips.

He shrugs. “Dine n’dash?”

You’re not impressed because being a marine is all about being a good citizen and setting positive examples to the general public so you roll your eyes and shake your head whilst Ace’s gaze lingers on you; he's been staring at you all night and now he's looking at the swell of your chest as you take each laborious breath, the way your lips are parted as you breathe heavily. He takes a step forward and you find yourself inching backwards against the wall. Ace cages you with his body and his arms, his hands planted firmly by your left and right side and you look up at him; his face is nearing, eyes sliding to a close. His lips are mere millimetres from yours but before your lips can meet, you duck and turn away from him. He re-opens his eyes after sensing your missing presence and goes after you, seizing your wrist and pulling you towards him. Once he has you in his embrace, he buries his nose against your neck, inhaling your scent and placing a gentle kiss over your nape. You close your eyes as he begins to settle his arms around your bare waist, and Ace leans forwards again; he desperately wants to kiss you, his nose touching yours.

“Ace, I think you’re drunk.” You murmur, re-opening your eyes again as your foreheads press together, your lips brushing against one another. You reach up to play with his beads, rubbing your fingertip over a random and smooth little rounded red jewel.

“I’m not drunk…” He mutters in response, giving your waist a squeeze as he leans over and begins nibbling on the shell of your ear.

“Yes, you are.”

“No, I’m not.” He replies, and he presses his lips against yours quickly before you can escape from his clutches again; he’s probably getting tired of your games, your playing hard-to-get. You freeze on the spot altogether, hostage to him, and you allow him to kiss you, closing your eyes once more as Ace seals your lips with his hungrily. His mouth is hot and wet, needy for you, and you drape your arms around his neck, bringing him just a little closer, your chest pushing against his. The hands on your hips move to the small of your back, pressing you even tighter against him and effectively deepening the kiss, a muffled moan emitting from the back of your throat. It's only the need for air that prompts you to pull away from him, which you do so very reluctantly but he's keen to keep you close to him as much as possible; he rubs his nose against yours affectionately and pecks you on the lips briefly.

“Become a Whitebeard, [Y/N]…” He murmurs, before leaning in and stealing your breath away with another quick kiss, “Stay with me?”

Whenever he kisses you like that it’s incredibly hard to concentrate. “…Mm, I can’t, Ace.” 

“Why not?”

“I don’t have any intention of becoming a pirate.”

“But - “

“THERE THEY ARE!!!”

Whoops, looks like you’re caught again. There's a small group of rogue-looking men pursuing you now and they're getting closer and closer. You and Ace promptly pull apart and you’re frowning; they’ve interrupted a rather intimate and enjoyable moment you were sharing with him. “Shall I kill them, Ace?” You utter darkly, fingers firmly grasping the hilt of your katanas and you’re about to unsheathe your swords but Ace hurriedly shakes his head, lowering your hands.

“Uh...No, nope, no…There’s no need for that, [Y/N]…. there’s no need to… _kill_ them. Oyaji won't like it either...” 

 "Fine." You growl out, before he grabs your wrist and he steers you down the opposite direction. Although it wouldn't be a problem for you to fight, Ace is still injured so it's probably a good idea to lay low. Ace leads the way although you are more than happy to kill your pursuers but since Ace has rejected your rather generous offer, you let him guide you down the path in hopes of finding a new hiding place. The streets are becoming narrower and narrower with less hiding places and the situation looks a little tad bleak until the door to one of the huts open and a middle-aged woman from within beckons you over with a little wave of her hand.

“This way. You can hide here.” She calls, and with little option, the two of you hurry inside without a second thought and the woman closes the door behind you.

It grows silent outside until you hear pounding footsteps passing by accompanied with yells and shouts. As the voices subside and the footsteps grow further and further away, you breathe an inward sigh of relief whilst Ace peeps outside the window through the blinds. You spare a glance to the woman who’s at her kitchen, busily pouring herself two cups of tea although you really doubt you nor Ace would be staying here for any longer.

“Thank you, ma’am.” You say, and she casts you a withered smile. Her hut is dimly lit by the candle that stands in the middle of her small dining table so you cannot make much of her features, but just as she carries the teapot away, it’s then you see the mark on her wrist. You squint your eyes for a better look but then the low sound of a horn blowing in the distance can be heard.

“That’s us.” Ace mutters, “Oyaji’s calling everyone back. Let’s go, [Y/N].”

The woman looks up at once. “Oh my, leaving so soon?”

“Yeah, thank you for all your help!” Ace replies with a nod.

“Not a problem, young man.” She mutters, until she spots the tattoo on his arm. “…Ah…Are you Fire Fist Ace?”

“Yep. That’s me.”

The woman glances at the both of you and smiles warmly. “You two must be soulmates. You make a lovely couple.”

Your cheeks feel warm. “T-thank you, but we must really be going now.”

“Of course, my dear.” She hobbles to the door and opens it for you. “Bye-bye now, take care.”

“You too! Take care!” Ace waves at her whilst you leave the hut and head towards the direction of the harbour. As Ace leads you, you throw your glance over your shoulder, as the woman vanishes back into her hut. There's something off about her, but you can't place a finger to it. "What's wrong, [Y/N]?" Ace asks, noticing how silent you have become.

"...Nothing." You murmur; you don't tell him that her voice sounds familiar.

…..

It's strange but you feel safer onboard the Moby Dick and as the ship departs the harbour, your gut finally unclenches, the knot becoming undone. Coalram Bay is nothing but a speck in the horizon as the Moby Dick heads out for deeper waters. The crew have restocked on food and supplies and are now enjoying a feast, and although Ace had gone through a dozen or so dishes at _The Cracked Kegg_ , you’re surprised to see him sitting by the fire and helping himself to some meat. You’re not hungry at all, and not wanting to join in with the rest of the crew because you don't feel like you belong with them at all, you head to the roof of your room and attempt some meditation. The closest island is _The Whispering Isle_ , where there’s a marine base and you can establish some connections and also file an official report should Whitebeard allow you to be dropped off there.

 _This means Ace and I will need to split up_ , you think to yourself, just as you hear Ace calling your name and you open one eye to see him climbing up the ladder and arriving atop the roof, grinning at you as he seats himself down beside you. “What are you doing?”

“Mayurasana.” You mutter.

“Looks difficult.” Ace sits cross-legged as you maintain the meditation pose, closing your eyes again. You’re in a horizontal position in mid-air, having lifted your entire body off the ground, your hands keeping you supported. You keep your legs straight and together as much as possible. Ace adds, “You should eat.”

Your stomach growls a little so you gracefully settle yourself to the ground and return to a normal sitting position beside him and Ace begins to share his food with you. Ah, this reminds you of the times when it was just yourself and Ace only on the island. Strangely enough, despite being stranded with no one else around, it was one of the best times of your life. He's brought a bowl of soup for you, some bread and a variety of meat dishes and as you both begin to eat, you glance up to the sky which is dotted with thousands of stars.“Ace?”

“Yeah?”

“...Why is your tattoo spelled like that? With an 'S' crossed out?” You had noticed it a while ago but never found time to ask about it until now.

He puts down the sandwich he was about to eat. “Hm? Oh....” Ace simmers into a silence and you wonder if you probably shouldn’t have enquired, however he emits a sigh and with a smile, points to the ‘S’ on his arm. “I had another brother, Sabo. He died.”

Whenever it's to do with death, it makes you heavily uncomfortable so you lower your gaze to the floor. “Sorry, I shouldn't have asked.” First, Marco showed you the grave of his soulmate and now Ace tells you he actually had another brother who’s dead.

"It's okay." He replies. "I want to tell you."

As Ace recounts his story of Luffy, Sabo, Dadan and the Bluejam pirates, the night passes quickly.

....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No notes today!
> 
> Woot! And it's occurred to me that we've now gone past ten chapters. That's an incredible milestone for me whoohooo!


	12. Berserk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is what I get for reading a manga called Berserk - I name a chapter title ‘Berserk’ lol. I spent a lot of time binge-reading it and let's just say, OH HELL NO. Uh...I think I need to lie down. If you have not read Berserk before I must warn you - whilst it's one of the best manga I've ever read...it’s also absolutely brutal.
> 
> PS. This chapter is M-rated.

**BERSERK**

…

…

_You hate parties._

_You hate everything to do with them: the dancing, the music, the food, the drinks, the atmosphere, the need to wear an expensive dress and heels you can't even walk in...but most importantly, the need to socialise._

_It's a graduation party, commemorating another successful class of recruits who have completed their training and will soon set off on their own adventures - whether they will join fleets belonging to Vice Admirals or take up admin desk jobs at Marine headquarters, or whether they are Captains like yourself who will soon depart for their first maiden voyages at sea with their own ship and crew. Finally! The vicious training has paid off and you have a shiny new white marine coat as proof of your dedication, loyalty...your undying faith and resolve to serve in the name of justice, to sail the seas and protect civilians from bloodthirsty pirates. Momonga and Laurel, your mentors, have come to congratulate you, and every graduation party is to have a motivation speaker - a Vice Admiral - and you're stunned to see that for your party the speaker is Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp (the bizarre one who wears a dog mask and his crew and ship are also... dog-themed), although you feel as though he's more interested in the unlimited buffet and booze since he only delivered a rather short speech whilst eating a bag of donuts before making a beeline to the oyster bar. Your Uncle Kuzan, as well as Sakazuki, will not come because they are high-ranking Admirals and have more important matters to attend to... not that it's a surprise to you since you haven't seen them for a long while._

_And so here you are, sitting quietly in a corner on your own, unsure and out of place as you watch your fellow classmates dancing and talking and laughing with their friends, in their small groups. None of whom you are remotely close to. It's too bad Curie is not here. She became a navigator anyway and she already set sail earlier than you did...there's no chance she was able to come to your party..._

_You're alone._

_The fast song that had been playing finally comes to an end and a few couples begin to leave the dance floor, spotting you in the corner, "Oh, it's her."_

_"I heard no-one asked her out."_

_"I'm not surprised. Look how unfriendly she is."_

_"She's been here for so long but no-one's interested in her at all."_

_"No-one likes her."_

_"I heard she humiliated Larry the other day. She's a horrible person."_

_"No wonder she's all by herself."_

_Normally, you don't let people's scathing comments get to you but you're not sure where this hostility came from, especially because you hardly even know them and well...they don't even know you. Pretending not to hear, you absent-mindedly dip a spoon into your glass, twirling the olive inside. It's not even booze, it's some kind of mocktail though it wouldn't hurt if you had some alcohol right now. You feel you might be needing it, especially when a slow song comes on and everyone returns to the dance floor with their respective partners whilst you merely sit on your lonesome. In fact, why are you still here? Maybe you should leave..._

_"Hey, hey, are you on your own?" says a gruff voice, and as a shadow completely encases your form, you look up to see that it is none other than Vice Admiral Garp._

_"Sir Garp!" You splutter, rising to stand and offering a polite, respectful bow._

_Glancing up, you see him looking curiously at your arm where your mark is. "...Hmm? Hm, that name!" He murmurs, which makes you look at him in confusion but then he proceeds to look at you from head to toe and you're not sure what's going on right now but before you can respond, he lets out a bark of laughter, "WAAHAHAAAHAHAH!! Where's your chaperone??"_

_Oh lawd, did he have to laugh and say that so loud? Everyone can hear him despite the music and now everyone is staring at your direction. Wishing the ground would swallow you up, you utter, "I don't have one."_

_"Why not?"_

_You wince slightly; oh no, everyone can't stop staring... You best finish your conversation with the Vice Admiral right now. "Well, I didn't..........." As you leave your sentence trailing, Garp waits and it looks like he isn't catching your drift, so to cut to the chase, you say, "No-one asked me."_

_"No chaperone, eh?" His thick and bushy grey eyebrow rises high into his forehead, "Then **I'll** be your chaperone!"_

_"That's very kind of you, sir, but I - uwagh!!"_

_You exclaim in surprise as Garp grabs your arm and_ _promptly tosses you onto the dance floor and begins twirling you around in some kind of rhythm-less waltz, galloping around the room without much care to the music nor the beat in general. You end up being dragged along, spinning around and around in circles and bumping into random couples and now everyone's glaring at you because the Vice Admiral has asked you to dance and also, you're just being flung around the room by the big man who seems to be enjoying this a lot more than you are. It was thoughtful of him but... this is really embarrassing!!_

_Once the song ends, you're panting, grateful that it's finally over. You're also feeling rather dizzy now as you try to stop your head from spinning, "Sir Garp, I think I should sit down." You say wobbly, and Garp steers you to a table with a large punch bowl._

_"This is for you!" He grunts out next, grinning widely as he whips something out from behind his back and plops it on top of your head, fastening it securely and tightly under your chin. "You should keep this on for the rest of the night!!"_

_As you look at your reflection in the punch bowl, your eyes widen when you see that it's a dog mask that is identical to his but it's got eyelashes and lipstick. Clearly the female counterpart. Your cheeks turn red whilst a few officers in the corner closest to you let out uncontrollable sniggers. "Um...thank you?"_

_"You're welcome!" He huffs with glee, and the next song starts, "Shall we?"_

....

You stop reminiscing for a moment, the memory scraping like a needle on record. "Wait a minute. Sir Garp is your adoptive grandfather?!"

Ace nods and you sit in your spot, gawping. No way. No wonder Sir Garp was interested in you during the graduation party. He must have seen your mark; he knew who you were! Glancing at Ace, you don't really want to tell him that you and Garp, in good cheer, danced the entire night wearing dog masks. You still have the dog mask; it's somewhere at home, tucked in a drawer. It's a nice memento. Like the story of Cinderella, it's your equivalent of the glass slipper.

Now that you think about it... Ace and Sir Garp are really similar!! Why didn't you notice it earlier??

"You've met the old man?" 

"Of course!! He's a motivational speaker."

Ace chokes on his soup.

It's getting late; Ace has shared with you a memory of long ago that he holds dear to him, one that brings him misery and joy at the same time. It's nice to hear that Ace's childhood was relatively happy, although when he mentions his harsh treatment towards his younger brother, Luffy, it occurs to you that Ace was rather obnoxious when he was a kid. Of course, he's totally different now. He's older and a little more mature.

His memory of Sabo is vivid but it’s also a depressing one, one that causes the both of you to simmer into silence once he’s finished recounting his past and you're both eating wordlessly. It’s a shame tonight has ended on a rather sad note, considering you rather enjoyed your time on Coalram Bay even though you were both chased by pirates for Ace's dine n’dash stunt which you do not advocate. Still, you managed to spend time with Ace which you’re grateful for. Maybe you should change the tone…

“…Hey, uh…Ace?” You discover yourself uttering out.

“Yeah?” 

You take a deep breath. You want to tell him. You want to tell him how grateful you are that he shared this with you... how you’ve enjoyed being in his company, being with him, how grateful you are that he stayed with you during the entire time you were stranded on the island, that he was always there for you. “You’re…” You begin, and it’s a lot harder than you realised, because you’re beginning to sweat and your fists are curling, “Y-you…you’re....I…uh…” You’re struggling. The words just won’t come out and your cheeks feel hot. Your nerves are taking over, anxiety overflowing in your veins. The way Ace is staring at you doesn’t help either; his gaze is so deep, so rapturous. It’s as though he can see right through you, can see everything. The lump in your throat grows bigger and bigger and finally, you force yourself to croak out, “You’re my favourite human being.”

Ace blinks wide-eyed at you in response and you quickly look away; your cheeks are on fire, your chest tight and painful as you think about what you just blurted out. Wait a minute, is that what you really had wanted to say? No, it was definitely something else, something stronger with much deeper meaning and something that couples tell each other all the time... words you have read in romance novels and seen in romantic plays...and what you just said there was definitely _not it_. Oh god, you really want to kick yourself right now and -

A squeeze of your fingers brings you back to reality. As you turn to Ace questioningly, you see him grinning widely before he pats you on the top of your head. “I know.” He says, and you can't help but smile lightly at him.

Soon, the sounds of a fiddle accompanied with harmonicas and drums fill the atmosphere and the crowd below begins to cheer. Ace peers down over the ledge to see that the crew are beginning to sing and dance around the fire. Turning to you with a grin, he nudges his head to their direction. "Want to join in?"

"Um...not really, no." You mumble under your breath.

"But it'll be fun!"

"No, it won't. I do not _dance_."

"C'mon!" And Ace grabs your wrist before you can protest; he lifts you up and bundles you into his arms and you have no choice but to cling on as he leaps off the roof and lands onto the deck below. 

"Ace, what are you doing?!" You exclaim, as he lets you stand and you're frowning at him but he's already tugging at your hand as he leads you past the fire and the group, who are staring at you both as Ace guides you to the large empty space of the deck near the fire, his arm wrapping around your waist and soon he is dancing with you - well, it's _supposed_ to be dancing - your feet are moving clumsily and you're swaying tunelessly in rhythm to the music and Ace constantly steps on your toes and instead of dipping you, he flings you around; you're heavily reminded of the abysmal dancing of yourself and Garp at your graduation party (worst. party. ever) and you cringe as you realise tonight is in jeopardy of becoming an exact replica of the graduation party. However, Whitebeard's crew cheer as they watch you and Ace take centre stage, whooping and clapping (and laughing...it's mostly laughing). Everyone's staring and you can't help but feel embarrassed. No way...this is not dancing! This is...this is...

From the corner of your eye, you see Thatch approaching one of the nurses and removing his hat, he gives her a polite bow as he offers her his hand. She smiles and accepts, slipping her diminutive hand into his and Thatch lifts her off her feet and towards the dance floor, giving her a little twirl; holding her by the waist and holding her other hand, they begin dancing (properly) to the music and once they are close to you and Ace, he gives you both a wide grin. 

Looks like Thatch has set an example, for the rest of the crew begin following in his footsteps, you see various men of odd shapes and sizes asking the nurses to dance and soon yourself and Ace are joined by numerous couples. Pirates dancing...this is new... You stare as the men and the nurses dance in orderly fashion. They're civil and you're stunned...and some are really good dancers!!! Especially the one you know who is called 'Diamond Jozu' but then loud laughter sounds to the right and you glance over to see two men dancing together and holding hands but wearing grins as they join the rest of the group, which causes the crew to cheer loudly.

"Told ya it'd be fun." Ace murmurs, giving you a squeeze so you focus all your attention to him. You nod in response and he leans over and pecks you on the cheek.

The night continues and it's full of laughter, fun and love.

…..

“So…you two have taken baths together?”

“Yes, because he had a narcolepsy attack and almost drowned.”

“And you slept together?”

“In the literal sense, yes, because otherwise I would’ve frozen to death. Ace kept me warm during the cold nights.”

“But you’re not on the island anymore. And you’re still bathing and sleeping together. Is any of that necessary?”

The nurses have been asking you lots of questions, mostly about you and Ace.

Your answer is a simple shrug and a curt, “I’m used to it and so is Ace.”

As the nurses giggle and whisper to each other before throwing cheery glances at you, you continue in your endeavours. It’s another day on the Moby Dick, and this time, you’re wanting to be useful rather than just be nothing but their guest so you head to the nurse’s office first thing in the morning to see if you are able to lend a hand. Ace is terribly hungover so you left him in the room to sleep it off. So far, the women have proven themselves to be extremely well-organised. You believe if the nurses were not here, some kind of imbalance between Whitebeard's crew will occur. There is nothing that really requires an extra pair of hands although they have asked if you wouldn’t mind helping them sort out some of their supplies so you have been sorting through a plethora of band-aids, bandages, rubbing alcohol, tablets, ointments and empty IV tubes and catheters into their appropriate containers. A few hours in, however, and there’s a knock on the door.

“It’s me-yoi, Marco.”

“Come in!” The nurses say cheerfully.

You hear the door opening and lazy footsteps enter. “Where’s [Y/N]?”

“I’m over here.” You reply, poking your head out from the cupboard. “Hey, Marco. What’s up?”

“Good morning, [Y/N]. I need your help with something-yoi. Can you come with me right now?”

Turning to the nurses, they respond to you with smiles, “Please, go ahead.”

“Thank you.” Placing down the box and supplies you had been sorting, you rise to stand and follow Marco outside. “What’s wrong?”

Marco leads you above deck where he points to Whitebeard’s quarters. “That.”

Following the direction of where Marco is pointing to, you spot your soulmate kneeling on the floor, staring at the closed door. “Ace?” You abruptly rush over to him, lowering yourself beside him on your knees also. Meanwhile, Marco watches from his spot, crossing his arms over his chest before he rubs at his temples and returns to the direction of the nurse's office. The moment Ace sees you, he greets you with a grin whilst you plant your hands on his bare shoulders, “What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to convince Oyaji.”

“About what?”

“Letting you become one of us.”

You sigh inwardly. Not this again… “How long have you been kneeling here?”

“Since I woke up this morning.”

“Have you eaten?”

“Nope.”

"Did you at least go to the nurse's office to get your chest bandaged?"

"Yep." He replies, as you rub at his chest and you're worried but he seems okay as he gives himself a light pat. "I'm fine, [Y/N]. See? All good."  

“Ace,” You shuffle over so you’re kneeling in front of him now, “Whitebeard already said no.”

“I’ll kneel here for days if I have to in order to get him to change his mind.”

Your heart makes a frantic lurch against your ribs and you cup his cheeks affectionately. Ace is so sweet….but it’s no wonder Marco needed your help. Poor man must’ve been unsuccessful in swaying Ace's mind. You sigh gently again, let go of his cheeks to rub at his shoulders. “It’s not just that… I told you before that I have no intention of becoming a pirate. Look, we’ll figure something out. We always do, in the end.” You murmur, before you slide your arms around his neck, “We’re about to reach land soon anyway, I think we should spend some more time together.”

Ace is still for a minute or so before his arms encircle your waist, bringing you closer to him. He buries his nose into your hair, closing his eyes. "Yeah, you're right. What should we do?"

“Do you want to take a bath together?” You suggest.

Ace nods but before you can stand up, he grabs you and hauls you over one bare, muscular shoulder, effectively forcing you to let out a squeak as your view goes upside down as he stands up with a wide smirk. "Ace!?" You exclaim; he starts carrying you towards the direction of the washrooms, making his way jovially downstairs below deck. Cringing the entire way, you hope no-one sees you but then you see Marco and the samurai guy and Vista, the big tall moustached one, and they are indeed staring and your cheeks feel even hotter as Ace greets them casually.

The moment you see the door leading to the baths, however, Ace stops. "Hey, [Y/N]?"

"What?"

"Let's go to my room instead."

Before you can say anything, he carries you away and further down the corridor and all the way to the division commander quarters and once you’re at his room, he settles you down, ushers you in and shuts the door behind you hastily and you find your back against the wall. His room is dark - looks like he didn’t draw the blinds apart yet - and all you can see is his towering silhouette above your form but the intensity of his gaze on you is overwhelming and your heartbeat speeds up uncontrollably. Not quite sure what you’re in store for, he presses his lips against yours whilst your eyes flutter to a close as you wrap your arms around him and he does the same, pulling you up tightly against him.

This is…different. His body is severely hot - much, much hotter than usual. His chest, which is pressed against you so tightly, is burning, almost to the point that you believe it’s getting a tad uncomfortable as his heat envelopes you from all four corners. His hands roam over your body without abandon, causing heat to shoot through your system as he caresses every inch of you; his hands wander from your waist and down the sides of your hips and to your legs before resting on your ass, his lips never leaving yours. You accidentally release a moan against his mouth, brows furrowing. His touch is tormenting you…sending plenty of tingles down your spine… and a flood of heat of your own comes to life in your lower regions, making you well aware that you want him to touch you more and preferably elsewhere… indeed, you want him to touch you somewhere he hasn’t touched before. Normally you are both so gentle with each other, taking great care of where you’re touching, holding and kissing…the both of you so conscious of each other… but this is crazy; this is wild and raw, blinding passion. You’re pressed up against the wall with Ace holding you so tightly, hands running into your hair, weaving through loose strands and cupping the sides of your face, fingers caressing your jaw. Your mouths press together so furiously it’s getting sore, albeit full of lust and want. You part your mouth slightly for air and your tongue accidentally brushes against his top lip; he’s hot as an iron, you can feel sweat gathering under your palms as you clutch him by the shoulders.

“Ace…are you…are you okay?” You manage to moan out as he nibbles on the corner of your mouth fervently before moving to your neck, his lips planting hot and wet, long trailing kisses over your nape.

“Mmn, [Y/N]….” He ravishes you all over, relishing your scent as he murmurs against your flesh and holds you tight, “I really want you.”

His chest is heaving as he takes noisy breaths. He’s short of air, panting. Despite his words, his voice sounds unsure, uncertain. You’ve never seen this side of him before. Concerned, you stroke his back, fingers daintily rubbing over his spine in an attempt to calm him down. His shoulders shudder under your touch though and you feel you’re unintentionally causing him more torment than good than ever before.

“Can we…I-I mean…” He’s starting to stutter now and as you pull away, you have an inkling of what he wants and heat rises to your cheeks when it registers in your mind. “Only if you want to…I don’t wanna hurt you - “

Swallowing a breath, you let go of him and hold him at arm’s length. You notice that Ace can’t seem to meet your gaze anymore and ultimately he breaks eye contact, his gaze trained to the floor. He seems…and sounds…conflicted, and maybe it’s up to you to provide some form of reassurance. Your hands are beginning to shake and Ace tenses up when your fingers land over the front of your shirt. Slowly, you begin to unbutton it, starting with the top button. There’s a heat within your body, dying for some release, particularly in between your legs where it’s throbbing and wet. It’s throbbing and wet for Ace. And maybe this is _it_.

He looks up, watching with steely silence as you pluck buttons off one after the other. The moment you reach the middle, the deep line of your cleavage comes into view. You’re onto the last button now and you pull the material apart slightly. You see Ace faltering slightly at the sight of your bra; he looks really embarrassed... Reaching behind you, you unhook the clasp and it flimsily comes undone, the straps loosening from your shoulders. Your heart is thumping so hard it hurts now and surely he must be able to hear it considering he is so close to you….

Right here and now, you are no longer a marine. You’re no longer the Captain of the 24th Division, a tough girl with the iron will, with the two katanas, the discipline and the cold demeanour. You are just a woman, and he is a man. Pulling your bra down to reveal your breasts, it dawns to you just how half-naked you are and your cheeks are so flushed, you bite down on your bottom lip nervously before you look up at him. Why isn’t he doing anything? Why is he just…standing and staring at you?

“…Ace?” You murmur out, your voice barely above a whisper. “…Wh...what’s wrong?”

He’s silent as he leans forwards, hands firmly on your shoulders before they slide to your arms; he presses his lips against yours softly. The both of you are half-naked but he hasn’t remotely touched you in any intimate area yet. And you want him to. You don’t care where, you just long for his touch.

Your brows furrow when finally, heated fingers move from your arms to gently clamp over one of your breasts, kneading into the soft flesh. You bite your lip, trying to suppress the moan that’s begging to escape when his fingers brush over your stiff nipple and cups your breast, pushing your mound upwards and into his palm. You can hear Ace swallowing down loudly, as he places his other hand on your other breast, feeling the weight in his hands. Even though you’ve taken baths, have slept together... he has never touched you like this before. You swallow down too, cheeks burning. Ace leans over and his hot lips claim one puckered nipple, causing you to finally whimper.

He releases you immediately. “Ah... did I...hurt you?“

”No...” 

"O-okay."

He picks up where he left off, sliding his hot tongue over your breast. Your knees almost give way and although your fingers grip his arm tightly, he doesn’t stop this time.

Closing your eyes, your heart hammers frantically because this…all of this, it’s finally it. It’s finally the time when you will give your virginity to Ace, your soulmate…a pirate nonetheless… oh god, is this...is this the right thing to do? Will it hurt…what if he’s too big and he doesn’t fit…what if he actually doesn’t like your body? Discovers a fault you were not aware of? You’ve never thought about it but all of a sudden and you’re extremely conscious…maybe even terrified because you’ve never…you have never….

…You’ve never had _sex_ before and -

A weight crushes down on your chest and Ace’s grip disappears and you re-open your eyes, blinking blankly. Glancing down, Ace’s face is buried between your breasts and you’re motionless, completely immobile but then he emits a loud snore and your shoulders drop.

“Ace?”

No response, but the snoring intensifies.

He’s asleep.

His narcolepsy strikes again…

You let out a weak chuckle before you wrap your arms around him and give him a fond squeeze. Ace slumps against you entirely, fast asleep with his nose stuck in your cleavage. Lifting his head out of your chest, you press his cheeks together, admiring his handsome face.

“What will I do with you, hm?” You murmur under your breath as you affectionately prod at his freckles with your fingertips.

You lean down to give him a brief peck on the forehead but Ace snores away, oblivious. Your heart stops thundering and returns back to its normal pace as you help him over to the bed and gently place him over the mattress on his back and lift his legs up, removing his boots before tucking him in, pulling the blanket up to his shoulders. Resting a hand over the duvet, you feel each rhythmic rise and fall with his every breath. It’s enough to bring a smile to your lips as you lift your bra off the floor, put it on and button your shirt back up. Gazing at Ace, you wonder if his narcolepsy hit at a good time, actually. If anything else happened...what then? Would you have regretted it? Pondering to yourself, it's best for you to return to your room. You leave as quietly as you can.

“Sleep well, Ace.” You mutter, as you close the door behind you.

….

“So, how are things between you and Ace?”

You thought about what happened earlier in his room and it's enough to make you blush. Clearing your throat, you say, “We’re good, thank you for asking.”

Thatch gives you a light smile as he works away behind the U-shaped wooden counter whilst you are seated in front of him; you’ve decided to visit the kitchen because Shelly is getting hungry and Thatch is more than happy to provide food for anyone and anything at any given moment. He’s slicing and dicing some greens and some fruit for you, chopping them up into tiny pieces fit for den den mushi with insane speed and precision. He wields the kitchen knife expertly and it feels like he is putting on a show even though you’re currently the only guest in the large kitchen. There’s several pleasant aromas in the air and the kitchen itself is spick and span. His entire team bustle around the area as they prepare for tonight’s feast but luckily Thatch is always willing to lend you a helping hand. He is really a professional at this, and it makes you wonder how he can also be a chef at the same time. 

“I was helping out the nurses earlier on.” You add. Thatch has cooked you a nice omelette too whilst you wait for the den den mushi food which is a thoughtful gesture as waiting should only just takes a few minutes. The omelette looks far too nice to be eaten anyway; Thatch has decorated it with an abundance of herbs and he has rolled the egg to perfection before pouring a light gravy over it. It smells heavenly.

“You should help out here too if you ever get the chance.” Thatch replies.

“Of course.”

"The crew like you." Thatch adds, "The nurses like you. Marco likes you, the others...they're warming up. Even though you are a marine and we are pirates... at the end of the day, you and I are nakama."

"Nakama?"

He nods. "Don't you think so too?"

"....I...Mr Thatch, I-I..."

He chuckles. "This is probably too much for you in one day. Take it easy, future sister-in-law. How’s the omelette?”

You reluctantly dig the fork into one corner of the soft fluffy egg and place it into your mouth, chewing silently. The taste it leaves on your tongue is delectable. “….Really good…”

Thatch flashes you a big smile in response and when he’s finished with the den den mushi pet food, you’re also finished with the omelette. “Here, this is for Ace. Only if he's still hungover though.” Thatch also hands you a bowl with a lid and you know it’s spare food. “I hope he feels better soon.”

“He''s fine. But thank you, Mr Thatch.” 

“See you around, future sister-in-law, drop by again sometime!”

“Will do. Thanks again for the food.”

Exiting the kitchen, you head towards your room first to feed Shelly, shutting your door behind you. Shelly is sleeping soundly on the windowsill and you empty some of the chopped food for her in a bowl which you prod towards her direction and she wakes up, slimy eyeballs opening.Shelly looks at you, then at the food, before she starts to tremble and her mouth moves.

“Pereperepereperepere.”

A call?

You press down on the button. “What is it, Ace?”

There’s silence.

”Ace?”

A crackle. Static. And then -

“ **Hell isn’t other people. Hell is yourself**.”

Those are the last words you hear before you black out.

….

There’s commotion above deck.

Ace wakes up, sweaty and panting. He tosses the covers off himself; they feel heavy on his body, drenched in his sweat. He pats the side of the bed, the side where she usually sleeps, only to find it devoid. Where is she? He was with her a while ago, wasn’t he? She is not in his room... He remembers she stripped before him and he thought how beautiful and perfect she was…and then it went dark. He curses his narcolepsy….damn it all.

The noise upstairs is worrying. What’s going on up there? He pulls on his boots and makes his way above deck but once he arrives at the stairs, he can hear the terrified screams and yells of his brothers growing louder and louder. Something’s wrong. Rushing up the stairs, taking two at a time, he slams open the hatch and he is greeted with the sight of numerous crewmates lying wounded over the deck. The stench of blood is strong in the air, the floor is stained deep with carmine and there’s a blinding flash of light followed by the sound of an explosion and the entire ship rocks side to side. A dozen or so of his brothers are promptly sent off their feet and into the air whilst the light collides with one of the masts and cuts it neatly in half. Ace hurriedly climbs out of the stairs and throws himself away in time just as the mast slams into the open hatch, effectively blocking any means to return below deck. 

As the dust dissipates, a lone figure stands, drenched in blood.

“[Y/N]!” Ace yells, eyes wide.

She’s the one responsible for this carnage. She’s panting, her head hanging low, hair messy and wild and covering one side of her face, shoulders slumped. Opposite her are Marco and Thatch - the only two commanders who are still standing although both are heavily injured - and Ace watches in confusion as she crosses her blades together, grinding the steel and making sparks fly as she emits a hoarse growl from the back of her throat, sounds belonging to a madman. Ace can immediately sense that there is something wrong. “What’s going on?!” He yells, as she charges towards the duo.

Ace’s desperate cries falls on deaf ears as Thatch is the first to attempt to subdue her. “I’m sorry, future sister-in-law!!!” He yells, as he attempts to evade her katanas away and responds with a well-timed slash of his own; she dodges in the blink of an eye but his blade still manages to sink into her left shoulder and although it’s not a deep or life-threatening wound, she screams with rage, howling madly. Thatch immediately retreats his blade upon bearing witness to her agony. "I'm sorry!"

Snarling, she slams her katanas forward in retaliation - Thatch raises his weapons to defend himself but he is too late. With an aggressive twist of her body, she delivers a powerful uppercut using both her swords and there's two blinding arcs of light that follows her movement - they look like claw marks - she's slashed him and he's knocked off his feet, slamming into a railing.

“Thatch!!!” Ace yells, as the man tumbles to the ground before slowly rising, wincing. “Are you okay?!”

“Yeah, but…oof, that one hurt. Sorry, Ace, I didn’t want to hurt her.” Thatch mutters, wiping away some blood that’s dribbling from his chin. He's suffered a wound to his side, blood pouring profusely and tainting his white outfit. He places his hand over the wound and lifts his palm away; his fingers are entirely soaked with blood.

“What’s going on?”

“We don't know….but future sister-in-law suddenly went berserk and attacked everyone above deck.”

Ace whips his head where he sees Marco in his half-Phoenix form, attempting to counterattack; this time she manages to evade, vanishing from his field of view in a split second which stuns Marco and before he can react, she reappears to his left and strikes - Marco dodges by zooming away before she can reach him - gritting her teeth, her soulless eyes follow him and before he knows it, she uses one sword and sends two light projectiles simultaneously towards his direction by swiping her blade into a cross formation. They're difficult to avoid, huge and fast and although he steers away from one of them, the other cleanly slices off his right wing. He staggers in mid-air and she rushes towards him with great speed - as Marco raises his arms to defend himself, it's futile as she promptly delivers a spinning kick and Marco goes slamming into the floor.

“[Y/N]!!!! Stop!!!!” Ace shouts angrily, and following that is a burst of wind that causes a few members of the crew who are still standing to suddenly jolt as though some unseen force has shaken them on their spots; however, she remains unaffected. She's still standing, clutching her bloodstained swords. “It’s me, Ace!!”

Marco is struggling to keep conscious as her attention changes to Ace; she slowly stalks towards him, blades at the ready. “Ace, wait!!” Marco yells, coughing slightly as he attempts to rise.

Ace reluctantly moves to a stance as he summons flames to his fists. “[Y/N], whatever’s goin’ on…snap out of it!!”

His response is an ear-splitting shriek of rage that escapes the back of her throat before she charges towards him with speed like no other. She brings both blades down and a massive light leaves the steel and slices away at the ship’s railing. He barely dodges and she attacks again, sending another beam of light at his direction. He uses his flames to keep her at bay but since he’s fought her before, he knows her light is stronger than his flames for some unknown reason. He leaps up and away to safety just as the light pushes his flames back and sends a massive pillar of fire towards her but she bursts through it, growling.

To keep Marco and Thatch safe, he creates a fire fence surrounding only himself and her. She goes after him again in the same aggressive manner, slashing and slamming her swords at him relentlessly. Dodging to the right, she slams her blades but they cut into the floor, smashing the boards apart. She missed. Ripping her swords out of the ground, she plunges them at him again but he evades and she obliterates a pile of crates. Missed again. She continues to pursue him, determined for his blood to spill. He steels his nerves, keeps his cool. She's stalking towards him again, holding one blade in hand horizontally, the tip of the sword glistening with fresh blood. In the blink of an eye, she vanishes from his view but he's rather familiar with her attack pattern and he ducks, just in time as she reappears millimetres in front of him, her sword about to slice into his throat. It was a close call. Perhaps too close..

She stops and Ace watches when he notices that she's closed her eyes and her left hand creeps towards her blade which she's kept perched by the side of her hip, one side of her body leaning forwards. He remembers this...

Her eyes open in a snap and she lets out a roar as she swings her blade in a perfect, streamlined arch. He dodges as a massive beam of light hurtles through the atmosphere and slams into half the ship, desiccating the Moby Dick beyond repair. He doesn't understand how she could still be fighting as though she is conscious, even though it's clear she's completely lost her mind. She resembles a demon. Her eyes are deranged. Her mouth upturned into a feral snarl. Ace has no choice but to keep evading her attacks; there is no window of opportunity for him to even get near her as she keeps up the offensive. She’s not listening to him; she can’t hear him. It’s as though she is lost completely. With each attack, she’s screaming and shrieking and then it occurs to him as she lunges towards him one final time -

Ace stands still, closing his eyes...

...and the sound of steel piercing flesh rings heavily in the air.

“ _ACE!!!_ ” Marco and Thatch yell, as blood gushes out from his mouth.

However, Ace merely smiles as he re-opens his eyes.

She has stopped.

Her hands tremble violently as they slowly let go of the bloodstained hilts. Ace wobbles, blood spilling from the corner of his lips and down his chin as he drops to his knees before her. Her blades are plunged deep into his chest, sticking out of his back. Her eyes settle on him and she's blinking in horror, having finally regained lucidity.

“…Ace?” She whimpers, “…What...have I done?”

Before he can reply, a massive shadow towers above her - it’s Whitebeard - and as he brings his fist slamming down, he subdues her with one strike. The air cracks and splinters and Ace watches helplessly as she falls to the ground, unconscious. 

....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!! Actually there was 1 note I forgot to cover in the previous chapter TT_TT
> 
> 1\. Mayurasana is another (yep, you guessed it) yoga pose. It's also called the peacock pose. If you have seen the movie "Edge of Tomorrow" where Tom Cruise's character meets Emily Blunt for the first time, she's in the training room surrounded by the crazy killer machines but she's calmly lying in mid-air being supported by her hands only. That is an example of the pose.  
> 2\. LOL Garp. I just had to give Garp another cameo. Here, he's kind of like...the dad who would gladly be his daughter's date to the prom  
> 3\. I would imagine Reader screaming like Laura from The Evil Within during her rampage. She's also pretty OP in this chapter  
> 4\. This was also meant to be split into 2 chapters but I didn't see much point... and also I was running out of things to write about regarding the Moby Dick and the Whitebeard crew :'(


	13. Seamen Recruits: We Want You!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, about this update...I'm really sorry.... I breezed through it because I hit a writers block and really had no idea what else I could write about. I will most likely edit this chapter in the future.

**SEAMEN RECRUITS: WE WANT YOU!**

...

...

_"Who did this to you, kid?"_

_"These big and mean, scary boys in my class."_

_In the little cottage on the outskirts of the village, Uncle Kuzan seats you down in front of the cosy, warm fireplace; there's large, bloody cuts on your knees and he is tasked with patching you up, sticking band-aids on whilst you rub at your swollen, reddened eyes. You've been crying uncontrollably since you came home, only coming to a stop when Uncle Kuzan makes pretty little snowflakes of various shapes and sizes dance around the house, but now you're refusing to go to school next day in case the bullies come after you again._

_Looking up at him, you ask, "Uncle Kuzie...don't tell papa about this, okay?"_

_He looks at you and you look at him. Brief seconds pass and there is silence save for the ticking of the wooden grandfather clock on the wall. "...Why not?" He ends up muttering under his breath._

_"Because he'll probably burn their heads off if he finds out what they did to me, just like what he did to those men."_

_Kuzan sighs. "Those were pirates. You shouldn't have seen what you saw."_ _He replies as he proceeds to wrap a bandage over your shin._

_"Papa is coming tomorrow to pick us up...and we'll leave this place, right?"_

_"Yes."_

_"And I'll become a marine?"_

_"It's what your father wants. You've to be trained by Momonga." He replies. During the entire time you've been under Kuzan's care, living in this cottage that isn't even yours nor his for all that mattered...he rarely talked to you. He rarely smiled at you. He rarely played with you. He always sounded exasperated when he's dealing with you. But he can be nice when it's needed. Uncle Kuzan settles you down on the ground, planting his palm over your head, "Work hard, kid. It'll be tough, but the earlier you train, the better you'll do in life in order to survive."_

_Basing this on a whim, you nod furiously, "I'll do my best! Papa will be proud of me! He's the biggest marine of them all! He hunts pirates, so-so I'll hunt pirates too! I'll make him proud!"_

_Without another word, you hop off the seat, clenching your fists before dashing towards the hall; Kuzan watches as you make your way upstairs to return to your room. Emitting a sigh, he glances at the table where a bunch of documents are strewn over the surface. One of them contains your profile which is stamped with the words: "Pacifista Program - Elected"._

...

"Nnghh..."

"[Y/N]?"

"Mm...w...what..." You open your eyes and a familiar figure pops into your view. Of course, you recognize her from anywhere even though it's a while since you'd seen her. "Curie?" You croak out, hissing as you feel sweltering pain grab hold of your shoulders and back.

"[Y/N]! You're finally awake!" She exclaims as you attempt to sit up but Curie prevents you from doing so, shaking her head as she gently pushes you to lie over the mattress once more. You blink unsteadily and glance around yourself. You're heavily bandaged all over. You're dressed in white nightclothes. The room you're in is small with other beds (although they are empty); various complicated medical equipment and machinery decorate each corner and the walls are painted in white and blue. They are the colors that represent the marines. On the wall near the open door is the sign that indicates you're in the infirmary.

Trying to move your right arm, you notice that you can't even seem to budge from your spot at all. "...I can't...I can't move my arms...In fact...I can't move at all..." You croak out; forcing yourself to move, you wince in agony as pain squirms into your system, causing you to squeeze your eyes shut. "Ow..."

"Whoa, easy...You just woke up. I'm gonna get the doctor. Take it easy..." Curie murmurs as she leaves your side, heading to the door. Poking her head out of the doorway, she calls for the medicine staff and an elderly man in glasses and white coat enters followed by a young woman with her hair tied in a bun who is donned in pink scrubs. She reminds you of the Whitebeard nurses and it's then you think of Ace -

Your eyes grow wide.

_Ace!_

What happened to Ace? The Whitebeards? You were on Whitebeard's ship, right? What happened? And how did you get here? What's the last thing you remember?

_I stabbed him. Is he alive?! No...he can't...no-one...no-one can survive that...no-one would be able to... He's...he should be..._

Panic takes hold of you from all four corners and immediately the doctor and nurse examine you as the monitor that stands beside you begins to beep loudly, indicating a significant hike to your pulse; you don't even remember why you had stabbed him and there's a chunk of your memory gone but you remember blacking out and when you came to, Ace was there, standing in front of you and you had impaled him with your katanas. You remember it, every horrific detail... You're beginning to tremble violently now and the monitor beeps even louder than before, the line that shows your heartrate begins to move erratically and in order to calm you down, the doctor hurriedly injects you with a sedative. Curie looks worried as you're made to lie over the mattress to stare and blink at the ceiling and you can hear Curie asking what is wrong with you and if you'll be okay. You hear them muttering to her in hushed voices. You hear them explain how you were currently in a state of shock and whatever it was that had happened to you, whatever the ordeal was...it had virtually drained all your energy and the strength from your muscles which was why you were so lifeless and exhausted. And then there's that wound on your back and shoulder, holes in your hands which are beginning to clear up...

Curie rubs at her chin, stealing a quick glance to you. "Oh, [Y/N]...what on earth happened to you..." You hear her murmur under her breath.

You'll be fine in a few days, they said. You just needed to regain your strength. Curie moves to sit by your side whilst you're silent and expressionless, numb all over. Once the doctor and nurse finishes the rest of the check up, they give you some medicine to ease the pain you're feeling, quickly fill in the report on the clipboard which they leave at the foot of your bed and depart, leaving only yourself and Curie in the ward.

"...Curie, where am I?" You find it hard to speak, struggling to get some words out.

"The Whispering Isles, Marine Base 50." She replies, "Some recruits found you - you were practically lying outside the doorstep, unconscious." And you stare at her incredulously but she nods. "I'm not making this up. It was as though someone delivered you to us. What happened to you by the way? The last communication from your ship was almost three weeks ago."

Three weeks?! Was it seriously that long ago?! No way... However, the more you think about it, it is true. You can't tell her that your attempt to capture Brutus ended in failure, because you met Ace, got taken onboard the Moby Dick where you remained for a few days... and then you got stranded on a deserted island with Ace and that was apparently more than a week...and since then, well...you've just been with Ace and hanging around with the rest of the Whitebeard crew on the Moby Dick. Swallowing down, you croak out, "I was at Mousehole...a pirate came and I-I went to stop him. It...didn't go as planned." You stammer out weakly.

"Ah, some pirate called Brutus, right?"

You nod. "My crew...my ship...I hope they made it..."

"Oh yeah, they're fine. They got rescued and got taken to Marine Base 39! They were asking how you were!"

It takes a while to sink in but when it finally registers in your mind, you exhale the most loudest and heaviest sigh of relief and you settle into silence and close your eyes. "...That's good to know..."

Curie smiles warmly. "Yeah, they're all good. They were so worried for you and sent distress messages to everyone, asking every base if they'd seen signs of their Captain."

You can't help but feel guilty somewhat. "...Oh, I...I had no idea. Is Claus okay?"

"Yep, he's fine."

"Phew...I was so worried about him, I need to file a report...send to Laurel..." With a grunt, you try to lift yourself out of the bed again, reaching for the side of the table to hold onto so you could hoist yourself up properly.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Curie's quick to intervene, "You need to rest! Doctor's orders, [Y/N]."

A brief silence spawns but you can't even find the strength to protest. Your body is heavy and you end up crumpling over the mattress again with a groan. "Oh, alright..."

"Seriously, you're such a workaholic. Guess it can't be helped...with your dad being a Vice Admiral and all..."

"Hey, Curie?"

"What?"

"How come you're here anyway...? I thought you were heading to North Blue?"

"Huh? Oh. Yes, we were. But I got called back to assist on training because they're short staffed here and I agreed. We're recruiting for new seamen recruits and I'm a guest lecturer for some navigational training. Since you're here, and when you feel better, why don't you train some of the new recruits too?" Curie hands you a folded piece of paper which she grabs from the side and you unfold it to reveal a glossy flyer depicting heavily muscles men donned in marine gear, saluting to the marine symbol.

You read the contents silently to yourself:

**Wanted: Seamen Recruits. Do you want to join a nimble, elite maritime military force? If yes, then join the ranks of the MARINES. In this role, you will provide immediate military options amidst crises across the seas. Your duties as a SEAMAN RECRUIT may include, but are not limited to: Conducting insertions and extractions by sea, air or land to accomplish covert or non-covert, Special Warfare/Special Operations missions. Capturing high-value enemy personnel and terrorists around the world (ie, pirates). Collecting information and intelligence through special reconnaissance missions. Carrying out small-unit, direct-action missions against military targets. Performing underwater reconnaissance and the demolition of natural or man-made obstacles prior to amphibious landings.**

Once you finish, you stare at the advert in unease. "...This is the job vacancy for Seamen Recruits? They don't do any of that stuff, they usually just clean toilets and mop floors..."

"Shhh! Don't say that so loud!" Curie squawks, "But yeah... Seamen Recruits Sign Ups takes place in two weeks. Hopefully that'll give you plenty of time to get healthy. Admiral Laurel would actually like you to assist with the training; he's here too by the way, so he'll be dropping by to visit you soon."

You grow silent again. You miss Ace and you don't know if he's survived your attack...However, upon remembering that Marco showed you his blurred, incoherent mark, indicating the death of his soul mate, you reach for the sleeve and pull it up and you can see Ace's name is still boldly printed over your flesh.

It's still there...the mark is still there...that means he's still alive...

Another heavy sigh of relief escapes your lips; it's not like you'll see him anytime soon though. You want to see him but it's also probably not a good idea to, not after what you did. Hell, the Whitebeard crew will not welcome you onboard anymore. No way. Regardless, you need to find out what happened to you first...even if you want to see him, you can't just take off after you get better...you need to go and see your crew, make sure if they're okay, report to Laurel, file the report...there's a lot to do. And now there's this.

Feeling as though you have nothing to lose, and it might help take your mind off things, you utter, "....Sure."

"Great!" Curie exclaims and she grabs the corner of your duvet, pulling it further up over your chin when she notices your glum expression. "...[Y/N]...are you okay? You look...sad. I've never seen you look so upset before. Did something happen?"

You shake your head meekly, closing your eyes.

Biting on her lip, Curie squeaks out, "Did you perhaps...meet Ace?"

"No." 

"Oh."

"Curie, I'm tired. I'm going to try and sleep."

"Of course. Get some rest." Curie leaves your side silently and you are alone, although she shoots you concerned glances on your way out. You don't think you've convinced her...

...

**Two weeks later.**

"What's the surprise, Teach?"

"Hehe, you'll see!"

Ace follows his subordinate further down the alley. Teach has a surprise in store for him apparently. He wonders what it is; hopefully it's food-related, because nothing else seems to cheer him up since the incident.

Two weeks ago and Ace had woken up with a jerk in the nurse's office (it's a miracle that he's alive considering how life threatening his wounds were but the famed Whitebeard nurses were Whitebeard nurses for a reason)... and he'd discovered that she was no longer onboard the Moby Dick. Following her rampage, Oyaji had subdued her and promptly had her dropped off at the closest island - _The Whispering Isle_ \- and he hadn't seen or heard from her since. Her Den Den Mushi is gone too but when he'd secretly tried to call her, no-one would pick up from the other end and he's left to ponder what has truly happened to her. She didn't return his calls, either. He'd settled into a kind of gloomy mood which the rest of the crew were unused to since he's always used to be seen cheerful and happy.

They know he misses her, and that he misses her a lot.

He's grateful that Oyaji didn't kill her then and there. He's spared her life, but when he came to visit Ace in the nurse's office and the massive man had stood solemnly with a fixed frown on his face as he explained the situation whilst shaking his head. No-one knows what caused her to go berserk, but it wouldn't be anytime soon that she would be welcome here, should she foolishly decide to return. Oyaji doubts she will return. She has hurt a lot of people and destroyed most of the ship. There's a lot of animosity towards her right now and because of this, even Ace isn't entirely in anyone's good books right now except from his closest friends, namely Thatch, Marco and several division commanders.

Ace will probably not see her again.

And it occurs to him that Teach is leading him towards the more shadier parts of town. "Where are we going?" Ace asks.

"Almost there!"

They've stopped again at Coalram Bay in order to get the ship fixed. Repairs will take a few weeks too and also, a lot of beli. Teach finally stops at an establishment and as Ace glances at it, he discovers it's seedy as hell. Red paper lanterns hang off the corners of the veranda and he knows what kind of place Teach has taken him - before he can make a move to leave and the doors open and a few scantily clad ladies pour out to greet them. Ace's nose wrinkles slightly; it's a brothel, and in seconds they're surrounded.

"Oooh! Mr Teach! It's soooo nice to see you again! And you've brought a friend this time!" The ladies coo and squeal and fawn over Teach who is delighted by the attention but as soon as some of the women approach Ace, he freezes on the spot, unused and unsure where to look considering their clothes don't even cover the majority of their bodies appropriately.

"This is Ace!" Teach slaps his massive hairy hand on Ace's bare shoulder and he takes a few bumbling steps forwards. "He's in some need of cheering up, if you get what I mean!"

And the ladies titter and giggle whilst Ace's cheeks burn red. "Of course! Come in, come in!"

As they reach for him and grab his arms and drape their lacy handkerchiefs and perfumed sashes over him, Ace immediately shrinks away and moves backwards. "Uh...no." Ace hurriedly shakes his head and shoots a glance to his taller, bigger subordinate, "Teach, I appreciate what you're trying to do - but this won't be necessary. I don't want this."

He doesn't want these women. He doesn't want to go with another woman to make up for the missing presence of his soulmate. It's not what he wants, and he definitely won't do such a thing. He is loyal to his soulmate only. He is loyal to [Y/N]. She's everything to him, he wants to be with her and nobody else, and she's also told him that he's her favourite human being. A chuckle forces its way out when that thought comes to light - he can't stop thinking about her. He can't stop thinking about the way how she smiles at him, how soft and tiny she feels when she's in his arms, how her hair tickles his cheeks when they hug. He misses talking to her, he misses seeing her in those weird meditation poses, the way she growls at him sometimes, how she frowns, how she speaks, how her lips feel against his when they kiss - good god, he misses everything about her. 

Turning on his heel, Ace immediately heads to the harbour.

"Ace! Where are you going?" He can hear Teach yelling after him. "Ace?"

He knows exactly where he's going.

He's going to find her.

Once he arrives at the harbour, he spots Striker tied loosely near one of the masts where he'd left it a while ago. The Moby Dick should be located in the docking yard. No-one would really see him leaving. He's normally not rebellious like this, but he misses her badly and wants to see her. Most importantly, he wants her back with him. "I'm sorry, Oyaji, everyone." He murmurs under his breath as he gathers his bag and the rest of his belongings that he uses for long-term travel. He even grabs a shirt, slotting his arms through the sleeves but leaving it unbuttoned. Heading over to Striker, Ace unties the thick rope and jumps on. He feels he should tell Oyaji where he's going, but he doesn't know when he'll be back. Oyaji is used to him going off on his own sometimes anyway, ranging from days to weeks at a time. Ace will always find his way back.

Igniting the engine with flames from under the soles of his feet, Ace steers the Striker towards the direction of the Whispering Isles.

It takes longer than he realised even though he's speeding, because when he arrives at the island it's almost evening and he steers Striker over to an empty mast and hops off, landing on the wet planks of the harbour. Glancing around, he isn't quite sure where to start looking for her as he meanders into the town square, and suddenly someone steps in front of him, effectively blocking his path and a piece of paper is thrust towards his face for his taking. It's a poster that says "SEAMEN RECRUITS WANTED: WE WANT YOU". Ace looks up to see a massive man in white garb that resembles the uniform of an Admiral.

"Hey you! Yes, you! You look like a fine young chap!! Why don't you join the marines? We're looking for seamen recruits!!!!" The older man barks, and Ace tilts his head to the side.

"Ah, no thanks, I - " He pauses when he spots the name stamped on the top left hand corner of the flyer. ".... _With Special Guest Training courtesy of the Captain of the 24th Division, [L/N Y/N]_?"

"Hoho! Yes, indeed! Captain [L/N] will be the bootcamp instructor. Even if you've never touched a blade before, it's okay! Never fear, if that's what you're worried about. We'll train you well!! On top of that, you'll get a free uniform, free lodging, three hot meals a day and a roof over your head for the rest of your life as long as you swear absolute loyalty to the marines! So, does that appeal to you? Think about it, young man! And here, why don't you try this on?" The recruiter abruptly scoops his hat off and plops a white marine cap over Ace's messy dark hair. "Ahhh, it suits you so well!!"

Ace blinks as he lifts the visor up slightly; everything the man said...he really doesn't give a care about but the only part that struck him was [L/N Y/N], the bootcamp instructor. She's here. The thought had never crossed his mind before...dare he infiltrate the marines? Just to see her again? It's a great opportunity...maybe the only one. With a grin, Ace says, "Where do I sign up?"

...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Urgh, sorry it's so short and sorry for my chickenshit writing... I hate writers block and had literally no clue what to write but I knew I wanted to get this out of the way first. It was really difficult for some reason, writing about Reader returning to marine territory  
> 2\. I have a thing for Marine!Ace and I even have the figurine of Ace in the marine shirt and hat (OMG he's so handsome). I felt like it was such a waste that Ace's Blackbeard search wasn't expanded on when he was infiltrating the marines, so I will write my version hehe :)  
> 3\. The Seamen Recruit job description is inspired by job adverts for a US Navy SEAL


End file.
